Bill Summers (umpire)
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William Reed Summers (November 10, 1895 – September 12, 1966) was an American
umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...
in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
who worked in the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
from 1933 to 1959.


Early life

Summers was born in
Harrison, New Jersey Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, and is located from New York City. Once considered "the bee ...
, and raised in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsoc ...
. He left school in the seventh grade, and began working under his father, a mill foreman; he also began
boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
as a lightweight, with moderate success in the ring. At age 17, he was employed as a road worker when he stopped to watch a high school baseball game. The umpire who was supposed to officiate never arrived, however, and Summers was asked by Woonsocket high school coach
Frank Keaney Frank William "Menty" Keaney (June 5, 1886 – October 10, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. As a college men's basketball coach, he was known as the architect of modern "run-and-s ...
– who would go on to an extraordinary collegiate coaching career – to fill in. Summers accepted, even though he had never played baseball and was unfamiliar with the rules; Keaney told him that as long as he kept track of balls and strikes, it shouldn't prove difficult. Summers proved adept at the task, and regularly officiated high school, semi-pro and industrial games for the next eight years.


Umpiring career

In 1921 he got his first chance at the professional ranks when he was hired by the Eastern League, and he continued in the minor leagues through 1932. He joined the American League staff in 1933, during the period when the major leagues were expanding standard umpiring crews from two men per game to three. Over his career, the firmly authoritative Summers proved adept at handling arguments, using his stocky build (5'8" and 208 pounds (94 kg)) to maximum advantage in defusing potentially explosive situations; he had a "slow thumb", rarely ejecting anyone from a game without a warning. Summers umpired in 8
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
(
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
,
1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
,
1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
,
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
,
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
,
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
,
1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
and
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
), tying the American League record shared by three other arbiters. He was also the first base umpire for the 1948 playoff game that decided the American League pennant, and worked in 7 All-Star Games, setting a record (later tied by
Al Barlick Albert Joseph Barlick (April 2, 1915 – December 27, 1995) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League for 28 seasons (1940–1943, 1946–1955, 1958–1971). Barlick missed two seasons (1944–45) due to se ...
):
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
, 1941, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1955 and
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
(second game). He called balls and strikes in all 7 of the All-Star contests, a mark unmatched by any other umpire. He was the home plate umpire on July 27, 1946, when Rudy York hit two grand slams, and on June 10, 1959, when
Rocky Colavito Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (August 10, 1933 – December 10, 2024) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prom ...
hit four home runs. Summers was the home plate umpire in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series when
Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...
stole home in the 8th inning, prompting Yankee catcher
Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...
to furiously argue his safe call. Late in his career, during his long tenure on baseball's Rules Committee, that body completed a major overhaul of the rule book, revising it entirely into a greatly improved version which organized the rules by logical subsections. In 1955, Summers became the major leagues' senior umpire in service time; he retired following the 1959 World Series, at age 63 the oldest umpire ever to serve on the American League staff, and later gave clinics and lectures at military bases throughout the world.


Personal life

Summers married Mary Ellen Van Riper on April 30, 1917. He died on September 12, 1966, at age 70 at his home in
Upton, Massachusetts Upton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It was first settled in 1728. The population was given as exactly 8,000 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Upton was orig ...
.


Quote

*''"I wasn't much of an umpire, at first; but I could keep the peace. And that's an umpire's most important and toughest job."''


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball umpires (disambiguation) Lists of Major League Baseball umpires include: * List of Major League Baseball umpires (A–F) * List of Major League Baseball umpires (G–M) * List of Major League Baseball umpires (N–Z) See also * List of Major League Baseball umpiring ...


References

*Slocum, William. "The Finger of Fate." ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''. October 3, 1955.


External links


Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Bill 1895 births 1966 deaths American League umpires Baseball people from Massachusetts Baseball people from New Jersey Baseball people from Rhode Island People from Upton, Massachusetts People from Harrison, New Jersey People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Providence County, Rhode Island Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts Major League Baseball umpires