Dale Ford

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Robert Dale Ford (born July 6, 1942 in Jonesborough, Tennessee) is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing the 6th district, which is composed of parts of Washington County and Hawkins County. He is a member of the Agriculture and Transportation Committees.^[1]

He lives in Jonesborough with his wife Joyce. He has 5 children. He is an Army veteran.^[2]

1 Umpiring career
2 Political career
3 Political philosophy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Umpiring career

Ford was an umpire in the American League from 1974 until 1999 when he, along with several other umpires, was not retained by Major League Baseball following their resignations as part of a failed union bargaining strategy. He was actually given retirement in 2001. He was well known for being behind the plate for Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, known for Bill Buckner's error; for tossing Baltimore Orioles Manager Earl Weaver out of a game during the National Anthem; and for ejecting Reggie Jackson from a game only to have Jackson begin throwing all the contents of the dugout onto the playing field.^[3] In 1998, he was rated the fifth worst umpire in the American League by players, coaches, and managers.^[4] He was often criticized by players, coaches, and managers.^[5] When looking back on his MLB service, Rep. Ford says, "For an old country boy with no particular brains and definitely not good looking, I felt like that was OK."^[6]

During his umpiring career, he brought a lawsuit against New York Yankees manager Billy Martin when Martin stated that Ford was a "stone liar, someone I'll bet $100 doesn't know how to read."^[7] Ford later sued the Texas Rangers after he fell while leaving Arlington Stadium.^[8] Ford also sued Major League Baseball for retirement pay and interest; he was one of the umpires who were not rehired in the wake of the union's failed 1999 resignation strategy.^[9]

[edit] Political career

In 2002, Ford ran in the Republican primary for Tennessee State Representative District 6 against an incumbent, David Davis. Davis edged Ford by a margin of 3,783-3,524.^[10] Following his defeat, Ford said, "I really don't have a desire in pursuing it again. The way the political system is in this country, it's hard to get anything done."^[11]

In 2006, after Davis announced he would not run again but would instead seek the US House District 1 seat for Tennessee, Ford again ran for State Representative. This time he ran against Joshua Arrowood, Ethan Flynn, Patti Jarrett, Michael Malone, and Lee Sowers in the Republican primary. The results^[12] were:

Joshua Arrowood: 403
Ethan Flynn : 1830
Dale Ford : 2304
Patti Jarrett : 2271
Michael Malone : 151
Lee Sowers : 599

There was no opposition in the general election.

[edit] Political philosophy

He is pro-life. Fiscally, he claims to be interested in increasing the state budget tremendously for education, emergency preparedness, law enforcement, health care, and welfare. He is also for increasing taxes on alcohol and tobacco. He also seeks a tax on internet sales. He supports the limits of contributions that can be given to candidates, though many claim that this goes against 1st Amendment rights and is a protection for incumbents. He hopes to end 'working the polls' by candidates and their workers. He supports increased pensions for lawmakers. He is a supporter of hate-crime laws. He is for nationalized education and against school choice. He supports minimum wage increases. He supports strong gun laws.^[13]

He received an 'A' rating from the NRA, despite his support for strong gun control laws^[14] He also signed the Americans For Tax Reform Pledge to 'oppose and vote against all efforts to increase taxes'; however, he supports increasing the state budget and increasing taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and internet sales.^[15] He voted in committee to increase taxes on cigarettes (which is a disregard of his pledge against all tax increases).^[16]