Most fans only notice umpires in their worst moments. A strike called that was far outside the zone, or a missed call on a clear tag on a runner stealing second base. At moments like that, formerly invisible umpires become the focus of everyone’s wrath.
That’s just part of the game. But starting in 1953, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame decided to start honoring the best umpires by inducting them, a way of acknowledging that calling a baseball game is hard and some are simply better at it than others.
Only a handful have made it. The first five inducted rank as legends of umpiring and clearly some of the best Major League Baseball umpires of all time.
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Thomas Henry (Tom) Connolly
One of the best umpires for the National Pastime was not even born in the U.S. But Tom Connolly, born in 1870 in Manchester, England, became one of the first two umpires enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame. He started as a National League umpire in 1898 before switching to the American League, working the first AL game ever on April 24, 1901, at South Side Park in Chicago between the hometown White Stockings and the Cleveland Blues. He worked games until 1931, then became the AL’s first umpire-in-chief, which he did until 1954. He ranks fifth on the list of games worked at 4,768.
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William J. (Bill) Klem
Elected along with Connolly in 1953 as the first umpires in the Hall of Fame, Bill Klem became known during his days on the field as “The Old Arbitrator.” Born in Rochester, New York, in 1874, Klem worked his first 16 years as an umpire exclusively behind the plate because of his ability to call accurate balls and strikes. He worked in the National League and became the NL’s first chief of umpires when he retired in 1941. He is second on the all-time list of games worked at 5,369.
William George (Billy) Evans
Born in Chicago in 1884, Billy Evans remains the youngest person ever to become an MLB umpire. He started working for the AL in 1906 at the age of 22, earning him the nickname “The Boy Umpire.” He later worked the World Series at age of 25. He famously brawled after a game with Ty Cobb in 1921 after inviting him to the umpire’s room for “post-game festivities” when Cobb threatened to beat him up on the field. Cobb got suspended one game, Evans kept calling games while wearing bandages for the next few days. He umpired until 1927, then worked in the front office for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. He also wrote hundreds of newspaper articles and columns and two books about baseball.
John Bertrand (Jocko) Conlan
Jocko Conlan, born in Chicago in 1899, became one of the best umpires in baseball, but he didn’t seek the job out. In 1935, during a game between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns, umpires asked Conlan, then an outfielder for the Sox, to fill in for Red Ormsby, who had become overcome by the heat. Conlan performed well and enjoyed it, so he launched a career the next year as an umpire in the minor leagues. He moved up the majors and worked in the NL from 1941 until 1964. In 1961, the colorful Conlan kicked Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in the shins after Durocher, who meant to kick dirt on Conlan’s shoes, missed and hit his shin. A Life magazine photographer captured the exchange for the ages.
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Robert Calvin (Cal) Hubbard
Cal Hubbard, born in 1900 in Keytesville, Missouri, has the distinction of being the first (and so far, only) umpire enshrined in three sports halls of fame. He is in the MLB Hall of Fame after working from 1936 to 1951. He also is credited with laying the foundation for modern umpiring, including where umpires are positioned and adding an additional member to the crew. After getting accidentally hit in the eye with shotgun pellets from a friend’s gun during a hunting trip, Hubbard resigned from umpiring and became a supervisor of league officiating. He is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his playing days (mostly with the Green Bay Packers) and also in the College Football Hall of Fame from his days as an All-American at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.
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