Richard Higham (July 24, 1851 – March 18, 1905) was an English born professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England and currently the only umpire to be banned from baseball.

Biography

He was born on July 24, 1851, in Ipswich, England. Higham's family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old, and they settled in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

. During his career he was a very versatile player, fielding multiples positions, mainly as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

with notable playing time as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

as well. In , he joined the New York Mutuals of the National Association during its inaugural season and played until the league was dissolved after the 1875 season, serving as player-manager in 1874. He then moved on to the newly formed National League, baseball's first recognized major league, where he hit in the first NL triple play against the Mutuals on May 13, . In , he served as captain of the Syracuse Stars in the inaugural year of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, which was part of the League Alliance, with whom the National League had a working relationship.

Umpire career and ban

After his playing days were over, he served as an umpire for two years (though rumors abounded that he was fixing games as a player). However, in , William G. Thompson, owner of the Detroit Wolverines (and also

mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History of Detroit's executive authority During the earliest part of its history, Detroit was a ...

) got suspicious about some of the calls Higham made against his team. He hired a private detective, who turned up several letters between Higham and a well-known gambler. Higham outlined a simple code—if the gambler received a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

from him saying "Buy all the lumber you can", the gambler was to bet on

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. No telegram meant that the gambler was to bet on his opponent. As a result of this evidence, Higham was fired as an umpire and banned from baseball. To date, he is the only umpire to have been banished from the game. He moved back to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and became a bookkeeper. It was here where he died and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacSABR Baseball ProjectUmpires timeline from MLB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higham, Dick 1851 births 1905 deaths Sportspeople from Ipswich Major League Baseball right fielders New York Mutuals (NABBP) players New York Mutuals players Baltimore Canaries players Chicago White Stockings players Hartford Dark Blues players Providence Grays players Troy Trojans (NL) players Major League Baseball players from England English baseball players New York Mutuals managers Baseball player-managers Morrisania Unions players Baseball players from Hoboken, New Jersey English emigrants to the United States Major League Baseball umpires Minor league baseball managers Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Capital City of Albany players Rochester Hop Bitters players Sportspeople banned for life Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Chicago)

Biography

Umpire career and ban

See also

References

Further reading

External links