caption death_date death_place years_active birth_place weight image_size height article_title birth_date image employer name occupation
rigler at the 1915 world series 21 december 1935 philadelphia , pennsylvania 1906 -- 1935 massillon , ohio 270 lb 180px 6 ft 1 in cy rigler
 16 may 1882 cy rigler 1915.jpg national league cy rigler umpire
cy rigler

charles `` cy '' rigler -lrb- may 16 , 1882 - december 21 , 1935 -rrb- was an american umpire in major league baseball who worked in the national league from 1906 to 1935 .
his total of 4,144 games ranked fourth in major league history when he retired , and his 2,468 games as a plate umpire still place him third behind his nl contemporaries bill klem -lrb- 3,543 -rrb- and hank o'day -lrb- 2,710 -rrb- .
rigler is tied with o'day for the second most world series as an umpire -lrb- 10 -rrb- , trailing only klem 's 18 .
rigler has also been credited with instituting the practice of using arm signals when calling balls and strikes .
born in massillon , ohio , rigler never played baseball in his younger days , although he played pro football briefly in 1903 as a tackle for the massillon tigers .
as a young man he worked as a machinist , and also as a police officer and fireman , and was encouraged toward work as an umpire because his thick build served well in quelling disputes on the field between the ironworkers who formed local teams .
he advanced quickly in the field , working in the central league in 1904 at age 22 ; in 1905 his excellent work was noted by scouts for nl president harry pulliam , and he was hired by the nl late in the 1906 season , becoming the youngest regular umpire in that league 's history .
his first major league game was on september 27 , 1906 , with the brooklyn dodgers visiting the chicago cubs ; he became a member of the nl 's regular staff in april 1907 .
while working in the minor leagues in 1905 , rigler had initiated the practice of using arm signals to note balls and strikes , so that those in the outfield would more clearly follow the action ; by the time he arrived in the majors , he discovered that the practice had become so widespread that it had preceded him there .
rigler joined the majors at a time when the use of one umpire in a game was still common ; by the time his career ended , three umpires had become standard .
his solid frame was a decided asset in an era in which players were decidedly more aggressive in their dealings with umpires ; and umpires in the nl were not as clearly defended by league officials as those in the american league , although they were also given a free rein in resolving disputes and in allowing their own personalities to emerge .
he not only proved skilled in officiating , but also became an expert in the design and groundskeeping of ballparks , and he laid out many of the most important parks in cuba and elsewhere in latin america by the early 1910s .
in 1912 he was laying out the ballfield at the university of virginia , while also serving as an assistant coach at the school , when he discovered pitcher eppa rixey and signed him for the philadelphia phillies .
the ensuing controversy over league umpires signing players for teams whose games they would be officiating led to the establishment of a rule barring umpires from also acting as scouts .
rigler was highly regarded for his outgoing nature and for his ability to let criticism roll off his back without becoming visibly irritated .
he allowed players and managers to make their arguments , and demonstrated a willingness to eject only the most egregious offenders .
rigler officiated in 10 world series , second only to bill klem 's 18 : 1910 , 1912 , 1913 , 1915 , 1917 , 1919 , 1921 , 1925 , 1928 and 1930 .
he was also one of the umpires in the first all-star game in 1933 .
one of his most memorable calls came in the 1925 series , when earl smith 's long fly ball to right field in game 3 reached washington outfielder sam rice 's glove just as he fell over the wall into the outfield bleachers .
when rice emerged from the crowd with the ball in his glove , rigler 's call of a catch and an out stoked controversy for decades as to whether rice had indeed made the catch .
washington won the game 4-3 , although they went on to lose the series to pittsburgh .
he was the base umpire on may 2 , 1917 , when fred toney of the cincinnati reds and jim `` hippo '' vaughn of the chicago cubs pitched opposing no-hitters for 9 innings , with vaughn finally giving up 2 hits and a run in the 10th inning to take the loss .
rigler was again the base umpire on august 25 , 1922 , when the cubs defeated the phillies 26-23 in the highest-scoring 9-inning game in history .
rigler was promoted to supervisor of the nl staff in december 1935 following the death of hank o'day , but he never got the opportunity to fulfill his duties .
he died less than two weeks later , following surgery for a brain tumor , in philadelphia , pennsylvania at age 53 .
