George H. "Foghorn" Bradley (July 1, 1855 – March 31, 1900) 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 ...

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 ...

for six full seasons who was born in

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...

. He also played one season in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Playing career

Bradley played his only season in the major leagues in for the

Boston Red Caps The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

, after having been a late-season signing by

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played Center fielder, center field for baseball's first fu ...

. He started 21 of the team's last 22 games that season, becoming the team's

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

. His totals for the season included nine wins and 10 losses in 22 games pitched. He started 21 games, completing 16 of them including one

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

. After the season, Wright signed

Tommy Bond Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods in ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...

, and Bradley suspected that Bond would be the team's new ace, so he signed a lucrative minor league contract and left the National League, never to return as a player.

Umpiring career

The following season, he did not continue to play, but instead served as a replacement umpire, as he had in in the National Association. He did not get promoted to full-time umpire until , when he officiated games in the National League until . He would again umpire in the majors in the American Association in . During that era, umpires generally worked games single-handedly, and Bradley was no exception, as he worked as the lone umpire in every game of his career. Although his career as an umpire was short, he was involved several historic games. On June 12, 1880, he was the umpire when

Lee Richmond J. Lee Richmond (May 5, 1857 – October 1, 1929) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Red Stockings, Worcester Worcesters, Providence Grays, and Cincinnati Red Stockings, and is best known for pitching the ...

pitched the first

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

in major league history, which was also the second

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

ever tossed. Later, in that same season, on August 20, he was the umpire for another no-hitter, this time by future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Pud Galvin James Francis "Pud" Galvin (December 25, 1856 – March 7, 1902) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher in the 19th century. He was MLB's first 300-game winner and was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965. Basebal ...

, throwing the fifth no-hitter in major league history. In total, he officially umpired in 344 games, during an era in which more than one umpire was rarely used in games. Bradley died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

at the age of 44, and was buried in the Philadelphia Cemetery. He was later re-buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania Huntingdon Valley is a Village (United States), village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, Upper Moreland To ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Foghorn 1855 births 1900 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen 19th-century baseball umpires Boston Red Caps players Sportspeople from Medford, Massachusetts Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Major League Baseball umpires