Kenneth John Kaiser (July 26, 1945 – August 8, 2017) 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 ...

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 1977 to 1999. He spent 13 years in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

and 23 years in the major leagues, a total of 36 years in professional baseball. Kaiser wore uniform number 21 when the AL adopted numbers for umpires in 1980.

Umpiring career

Kaiser officiated in the

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- ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, as well as the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

in 1991. He also umpired in the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

(Game 6), and in the

American League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

. He also worked the single-game playoff to decide the AL West champion in . On May 6, 1982, he was home plate umpire for

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for eight teams from 1962 to 1983, becoming one of the most durable and successful pitchers in histor ...

's 300th career victory. Before reaching the major leagues, Kaiser worked as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, wearing a black hood and being known as "The Hatchet Man." In his brief stint as a professional wrestler, he wrestled such famous opponents as

Haystacks Calhoun William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...

. In 1986, Kaiser was voted the Most Colorful Umpire in the

in a poll by ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. Players in 1998 and 1999, when polled anonymously, voted Kaiser among the worst AL umpires. In 1999, he was among the 68 umpires who submitted their resignations en masse, in an unsuccessful attempt by the

Major League Umpires Association The Major League Umpires Association (MLUA) was a union for the umpires of both the American League and the National League. It was formed in 1970. It was decertified and replaced by the World Umpires Association (now the Major League Baseball U ...

to force a new labor agreement; Kaiser was one of 13 who were not re-hired after union negotiations and litigation.

Weight

During a period in which many umpires were criticized for their weights, Kaiser was the heaviest in the AL. Kaiser wrote in his 2003 autobiography that he weighed in high school. The AL listed his weight at from 1977 to 1979 and at from 1980 to 1982 before revising the figure to in 1983. Kaiser stayed at this weight for two more years, before dropping to in his final season. In a June 2004 column for ESPN's MLB Insider, pitcher

Tom Candiotti Thomas Caesar Candiotti (born August 31, 1956) is an American former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. Since the 200 ...

recalled that Kaiser "wouldn't move three steps to call a play."

Later years

Kaiser's 2003 autobiography, written with the help of author David Fisher, is entitled ''Planet of the Umps: A Baseball Life From Behind the Plate''. Kaiser died from complications of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

almost two weeks after his 72nd birthday.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Ken 1945 births 2017 deaths American League umpires Deaths from diabetes in New York (state) Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Rochester, New York

Umpiring career

Weight

Later years

See also

References

Further reading

External links