George Barr (umpire)

George Barr
Born George McKinley Barr
July 19, 1897
Scammon, Kansas
Died July 26, 1974 (aged 77)
Sulphur, Oklahoma
Occupation Umpire
Years active 1931-1949
Employer National League

George McKinley Barr (July 19, 1897 – July 26, 1974) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1931 to 1949. Barr umpired 2,757 major league games in his 19 year career. He umpired in four World Series (1937, 1942, 1948, 1949) and two All-Star Games (1937 and 1944).[1] Barr founded the earliest umpire training school.

Early life

Barr was born in Scammon, Kansas on July 19, 1897.[2] When he arrived in Tulsa as a young man in 1915, he is said to have had only ten cents to his name. While working as a stadium usher in 1923, Barr got his first opportunity to umpire when one of the arbiters was a no-show for a game.[3] He was hired to the Western Association for the following year.

Career

After two seasons in the Western Association, Barr moved to the Texas League in 1926 and stayed for several seasons.[2] In August 1931, Barr was promoted to the major leagues. In 1933, he was Ernie Quigley's partner when Quigley sustained an electric shock while dressing after the game; Quigley recovered without incident.[4] He umpired in the 1937 All-Star Game in which Dizzy Dean sustained the toe injury that affected the rest of his career. The following year he worked Johnny Vander Meer's second consecutive no-hitter.[3] In 1946, Barr umpired in the 19-inning scoreless tie between Brooklyn and Cincinnati.[5] He suffered a heart attack during a New York-Chicago game later in that season, but he recovered.[6] After umpiring in the 1948 World Series, Barr was briefly confined at home under a physician's care for an undisclosed ilnness.[7]

Barr retired from MLB umpiring in January 1950 and later served as president of the Western Association and the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League, two lower-level minor leagues that would both fold in that decade.[8]

Umpire school

Barr founded the first umpire training school in 1935 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.[3] Barr prided himself on his school's tough standards. "We will tolerate no drinking, gambling or whistling at girls," Barr said in 1949.[9] He instituted a system of 10 cent fines, paid to the hotel's waitresses, for student mistakes or silly questions.[10] After his MLB retirement, Barr continued to operate the school well into the 1960s.[11]

Personal

In 1925, Barr married Mary Elizabeth de Vaughn.[2]

He was active with Babe Ruth Baseball, serving as an international director for 14 years.[12] He was inducted into the Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in 1969.[3]

Death

Barr died on July 26, 1974, a few days after his 77th birthday, at the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Struggling with heart disease,[12] Barr had been in poor health for the previous two years.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Retrosheet
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 TSN Umpire Card, retrieved July 3, 2012
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Ex-Umpire Has Memories of Days, Times Gone By". Associated Press. May 18, 1969. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Electric Shock Knocks Quigley Unconscious". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 26, 1933. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Umpires School June 3,4". The Leader-Post. May 12, 1961. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Umpire Resting After Heart Attack". Associated Press. September 18, 1946. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Umpire Barr is Ill". The Portsmouth Times. October 19, 1948. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "George Barr, National League Umpire". St. Petersburg Times. July 27, 1974. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  9. ↑ "No Naughtiness". Toledo Blade. January 22, 1949. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Student Umpires Fined for Boners". The Milwaukee Journal. March 14, 1939. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Here's How You Call 'Em, Boys". Palm Beach Post. February 10, 1963. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Retired Umpire Barr Dead". Associated Press. July 27, 1974. Retrieved July 3, 2012.

External links