Called out but safe : a baseball umpire's journey

Title:

Author:

Clark, Al, 1948-

ISBN:

9780803246881

Personal Author:

Clark, Al, 1948-

Physical Description:

xxii, 198 pages, [14] pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Abstract:

"If an umpire could steal the show in a Major League game, Al Clark might well have been the one to do it. Tough but fair, in his thirty years as a professional umpire he took on some of baseball's great umpire baiters, such as Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, and Dick Williams, while ejecting any number of the game's elite--once tearing a hamstring in the process. He was the first Jewish umpire in American League history, and probably the first to eject his own father from the officials' dressing room. But whatever Clark was doing--officiating at Nolan Ryan's three hundredth win, Cal Ripken's record breaker, or the "earthquake" World Series of 1989, or braving a labor dispute, an anti-Semitic tirade by a Cy Young Award winner, or a legal imbroglio--it makes for a good story. Called Out but Safe is Clark's outspoken and often hilarious account of his life in baseball from umpire school through the highlights to the inglorious end of his stellar career. Not just a source of baseball history and lore, Clark's book also affords a rare look at what life is like for someone who works for the Major Leagues' other team"-- Provided by publisher.

Personal Subject:

Clark, Al, 1948-

BISAC Subject:

Sport / Baseball

Subject Term:

Baseball umpires -- United States -- Biography.

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Sports.

SPORTS & RECREATION / Baseball / History.

Added Author:

Schlossberg, Dan, 1948-

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Format	Library	Call Number	Status
Book	Searching... South Regional Library	796.357 Cla	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

If an umpire could steal the show in a Major League game, Al Clark might well have been the one to do it. Tough but fair, in his thirty years as a professional umpire he took on some of baseball's great umpire baiters, such as Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, and Dick Williams, while ejecting any number of the game's elite--once tearing a hamstring in the process. He was the first Jewish umpire in American League history, and probably the first to eject his own father from the officials' dressing room. But whatever Clark was doing--officiating at Nolan Ryan's three hundredth win, Cal Ripken's record breaker, or the "earthquake" World Series of 1989, or braving a labor dispute, an anti-Semitic tirade by a Cy Young Award winner, or a legal imbroglio--it makes for a good story.
Called Out but Safe is Clark's outspoken and often hilarious account of his life in baseball from umpire school through the highlights to the inglorious end of his stellar career. Not just a source of baseball history and lore, Clark's book also affords a rare look at what life is like for someone who works for the Major Leagues' other team.

Author Notes

Sportswriter Dan Schlossberg has written more than 20 novels and over 10,000 articles on the topic of baseball. His works include Pitching (An Official Major League Baseball Book), The New Baseball Catalog and several editions of The Baseball Almanac.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Kids do not dream of being umpires while playing pickup or Little League games. Nor did Clark. With sportswriter Schlossberg, he outlines his baseball life from being the son of a Yankees beat writer dreaming of suiting up for his beloved Bronx Bombers to becoming an entirely impartial umpire, calling pressure-packed World Series contests. Clark posits that each game is not comprised of two teams but rather three, including the officiating staff. He talks about his experiences umping and the key role of umpires in every game-having to be in the correct place at all times. He also delves into his dismissal from MLB and his four-month stint in a correctional facility for mail fraud-an ironic circumstance considering his policing role on the field for three decades. VERDICT Not your usual baseball book, but complementary to the myriad titles on players and teams. Clark, having called well over 3,000 MLB games, offers a perspective that is engaging as well as steeped in personal experience. It will be of interest to any baseball fan.-Brian Renvall (BRen), -Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. Xvii
Introduction	p. xxi
1 The Family Clark	p. 1
2 Getting Started	p. 13
3 The Art of Umpiring	p. 24
4 Dressing the Part	p. 54
5 My Office	p. 59
6 Names and Games	p. 66
7 Wives, Women, and Song	p. 81
8 The Yiddishe Umpire	p. 85
9 Billy, Earl, and a Few Dicks	p. 93
10 Bucky F. Dent	p. 109
11 Labor Pains	p. 113
12 Quaking in My Boots	p. 122
13 A Texas Connection	p. 129
14 Lights Out in Baltimore	p. 133
15 The Iron Man	p. 139
16 Credit Denied	p. 145
17 Jailhouse Rock	p. 151
18 Lasting Impressions	p. 176
Epilogue	p. 193
Appendix	p. 195

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents