Pete's Baseball Quotes

Umpires



Christy Mathewson:
Many fans look upon the umpire as sort of a necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile.

Larry Goetz, umpire:
In a way an umpire is like a woman. He makes quick decisions, never reverses them, and doesn't think you're safe when you're out.

George Will:
Once when the Yankee's Lou Pinella was batting he questioned a Palermo strike call. Pinella demanded, "Where was that pitch at?" Palermo told him that a man wearing Yankee pinstripes in front of 30,000 people should not end a sentence with a preposition. So Pinella, no dummy, said, "OK, where was that pitch at, asshole?"
(B p219)

Preacher Roe:
One day in a tough game I was passing Lonnie Warneke and he said, "Preach, I may have my superiors on the bases, but when it comes to balls and strikes, I'm second to no man." And I commenced thinking careful and when I was done I told him, "Horseshit, Lon."
(bos p.276)

Ty Cobb:
The best recommendation for an umpire in the old days was: "He licked somebody in the Three-I League. He ought to do.

Al Forman, umpire:
I occasionally get birthday cards from fans. But it's often the same message: they hope it's my last.

Ring Lardner, on umpires:
Some of ours is so crooked that they can lay in a berth only when the train's making a curve.

Harry "Steamboat" Johnson, umpire:
Somethin' like four thousand bottles have been thrown at me in my day but only about twenty ever hit me. That does not speak very well for the accuracy of the fans' throwing.

Amos Otis, to an umpire at a night game:
Listen, ump. How can you sleep with the lights on?

Gene Mauch, Montreal Manager, when his players rushed to dispute a call:
The first guy who lays a finger on this blind old man is fined fifty bucks!

Dizzy Dean, on umpire William McKinley:
Why, they shot the wrong McKinley!

Nestor Chylak, AL umpire 1954-78:
They expect an umpire to be perfect on openning day and to improve as the season goes on.

Johnny Rice, umpire:
The toughest call an umpire has to make is not the half-swing; the toughest call is throwing a guy out of the game after you blew the hell out of the play.

Unknown, from a Chicago Times editorial:
The average umpire is a worthless loafer.

Bill Klem, Hall of Fame umpire:
It ain't nuthin' until I call it.
(br 198)

Leo Durocher, Giants manager 1948-55:
I've never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.

Pete's Baseball Quotes