American baseball player and umpire (1859?1943)
Baseball player
Robert Daniel Emslie
(January 27, 1859 ? April 26, 1943) was a Canadian
pitcher
in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) who went on to set numerous records for longevity as an
umpire
.
[1]
Born in
Guelph
,
Ontario
, Canada, Emslie had a brief professional playing career with the Baltimore and Philadelphia clubs in the American Association.
His professional umpiring career began in 1888, and after spending a couple of seasons in the minor leagues, he was promoted to the major leagues as an umpire in 1890. Emslie was nicknamed "Wig" due to his premature receding hairline, which was a result of the stress of umpiring games single-handedly in the rough-and-tumble 1890s; he was derisively called "Blind Bob" by the
New York Giants
following his role in the infamous "
Merkle's Boner
" play during the
1908
National League pennant race.
[2]
The play involved a force out when a Giants player stopped running to second base upon seeing that the game's winning run would score.
When "Merkle's boner" occurred, Emslie had already worked more major league games than any umpire in MLB history, then later served as the National League's chief of umpires upon retiring from active umpiring. He retired to St. Thomas, Ontario and died there on Monday, April 26, 1943. In 1946 he was included in the
Honor Rolls of Baseball
and in 1986 he was named to the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
.
Playing career
[
edit
]
Emslie began his professional career playing for several
semi-professional
teams in Ontario until signing on with the
Camden, New Jersey
team of an early version of the
Interstate League
for the
1882
season. He pitched for them until middle of the
1883
season when he joined the
Baltimore Orioles
of the
American Association
.
[2]
The first season with the Orioles, he had a 9?13 record, with 3.17
earned run average
(ERA), 21
complete games
, and one
shutout
. His best season was in
1884
, when he had a 32?17 record, completed all 50 of his
starts
, and had a 2.75 ERA.
[1]
In
1885
, Emslie's numbers greatly decreased with Baltimore, reportedly due to a sore arm, attributed to his excessive use of the
curveball
, at which he was moved to the
Philadelphia Athletics
also of the American Association. He pitched in only four games for the Athletics; his major league playing career was over, and by
1887
his
minor league
career was through as well.
[2]
Umpiring career
[
edit
]
After his playing career finished he was attending an
International League
game and was asked to officiate this game between Toronto and Hamilton when the assigned umpire fell ill. He umpired with the International League for the
1888
and
1889
seasons, then began his Major League Baseball career umpiring American Association games in
1890
. He began the
1891
season in the
Western League
, but was back in the majors by August 17, working for the
National League
.
[2]
Emslie as an NL umpire in 1914
Emslie was involved in many of the game's highlights, including calling four
no-hitters
. The first one was on August 16, 1893, when
Bill Hawke
of the Orioles tossed his; the second was
Deacon Phillippe
's of the
Louisville Colonels
on May 25, 1899. The third no-hitter came on September 18, 1903, by
Chick Fraser
of the
Philadelphia Phillies
, and the fourth was tossed on May 8, 1907, by
Francis "Big Jeff" Pfeffer
of the
Boston Doves
.
[3]
He also officiated on July 13, 1896, when
Ed Delahanty
become only the second player to hit four
home runs
in one game.
[4]
By the end of the
1909
season, he began to work the bases almost exclusively instead of calling games from behind the plate.
[1]
In all, Emslie umpired for 33 years before retiring at the end of the
1924
season, after which he then served as NL chief of umpires, with the responsibilities of inspecting, scouting, and coaching new umpires.
[2]
The Merkle incident
[
edit
]
Emslie was the base umpire on September 23, 1908, when controversy erupted at the end of the
New York Giants
–
Chicago Cubs
game at the
Polo Grounds
. With the score tied and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Giants had
Moose McCormick
on third base and
Fred Merkle
on first base;
Al Bridwell
smashed a
single
to
center
to drive home McCormick with the apparent winning run, but Merkle failed to touch second base. Cubs second baseman
Johnny Evers
noticed this error, and tagged second base and appealed to Emslie. Emslie claimed that he had to duck out of the way of Bridwell's line drive and did not see the play, and home plate umpire
Hank O'Day
declared Merkle out and the game a tie.
New York manager
John McGraw
, with whom Bob had a long and tempestuous history, bestowed upon Emslie his nickname "Blind Bob" after the controversy. The incident is often referred to as "Merkle's Boner."
[5]
Notably, Emslie and O'Day were the two most experienced umpires in Major League Baseball history at that point, with Emslie having worked nearly 2,500 games and O'Day nearly 1,700. Later, Emslie showed up at a Giants' practice with a rifle, placed a dime on the pitching mound and shot it from behind home plate, sending the coin spinning into the outfield. Reportedly, McGraw never again challenged his eyesight.
Other activities
[
edit
]
Emslie was also president of the Canadian Grand International Trap Shoot, notably in charge of a large meet in
St. Thomas, Ontario
in December 1916.
[6]
Post-career
[
edit
]
He retired to
St. Thomas, Ontario
, where he coached youth baseball and enjoyed
curling
,
bowling
, and
golf
.
[2]
Emslie died at age 84 in St. Thomas, Ontario, and was interred at the St. Thomas West Avenue Cemetery.
[1]
He was inducted into the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
in
1986
.
[2]
[7]
Emslie Field in St. Thomas is named in his honor.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
Executives
| |
---|
Managers
| |
---|
Umpires
| |
---|
Sportswriters
| |
---|
|
|
---|
Players, managers,
and coaches
| |
---|
Miscellaneous
| |
---|
Groups
| |
---|