Chris Pelekoudas

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Christos George Pelekoudas (January 23, 1918 - November 30, 1984) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1960 to 1975.

Born in Chicago, Illinois into a family of 14 children, he had an unsuccessful tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals as a player in 1934. He began umpiring while serving as a Special Services officer during World War II, and eventually worked his way to the major leagues. He worked in the World Series in 1966 and 1972, serving as crew chief the second time, and in the All-Star Game in 1961 (second game), 1967 and 1975. He also officiated in the National League Championship Series in 1969 and 1973. He is perhaps best remembered for having an apparent Hank Aaron home run nullified on August 18, 1965 because Aaron stepped out of the batter's box when he made contact. As a result, Aaron's home run record is 755, instead of 756.

Pelekoudas was also the first umpire to ever eject Gaylord Perry from a game for using an illegal greasy substance on the ball. He was the home plate umpire when Willie Mays hit four home runs on April 30, 1961, and the first base umpire for Sandy Koufax' perfect game on September 9, 1965.

Pelekoudas died in Sunnyvale, California at age 66.

[edit] Trivia

He was an umpire for the first game ever held at Shea Stadium on April 4, 1964.
In the book Baseball's Golden Greeks by Diamantis Zervos, Jim Campanis describes a Greek moment in baseball when he was batting against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Milt Pappas, with Alex Grammas the third base coach and Pelekoudas calling balls and strikes behind the plate.