Robert Edward Finley (November 25, 1915 – January 2, 1986) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, who was an SMU back drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 1943 and 1944. Finley was a native of

Ennis, Texas Ennis () is a city in eastern Ellis County, Texas. It is on the edge of the blackland prairie region of Texas. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,210 in 2021. Ennis is home to the annual Nat ...

. He and

Charlie Hudson Charles Hudson (born August 18, 1949) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1972 to 1975 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and California Angels. He was 6'3" tall and he weighed 185 pounds. He attended T ...

are the only two Ennis natives to appear in Major League Baseball. Finley played both baseball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

from which he graduated in 1937. He was a member of the SMU 1935 national champions and 1936 Rose Bowl team. At SMU, Finley is most famous for his play on November 30, 1935 in which No. 1 SMU played No. 2 TCU and

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

in Ft. Worth. SMU scored the first 14 points of the game. But TCU came back and with the Horned Frogs leading late, 14–13, the Mustangs had fourth-and-four at the TCU 37. Out of punt formation, Finley threw a 37-yard touchdown to Bobby Wilson. SMU won, 20–14, and went to the Rose Bowl. Finley was the varsity baseball coach at SMU from 1965 to 1976. Finley was also a football official who worked in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

. He officiated professional football as an umpire and as a referee, one of nine on-field officials to serve in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) for its entire ten-year existence, 1960 through 1969. He also was a referee in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, the first season following the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...

. Finley retired following the 1970 season; his last game was a

–

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

matchup at

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

December 20. Finley's 1970 crew included umpire

Lou Palazzi Louis Joseph Palazzi (June 25, 1921 – January 7, 2007) was an American football player who later officiated from 1952 through 1981 as an umpire in the National Football League (NFL). Palazzi was the umpire in three Super Bowls, IV, VII and XI; ...

, head linesman

Cal Lepore Leonard Charles "Cal" Lepore (April 15, 1919 – December 7, 2002) was an American football head linesman, line judge and referee. He officiated in the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 through 1969, and then in the National Football Leagu ...

, line judge Art Holst, back judge

Grover Klemmer Grover Klemmer, Jr. (March 16, 1921 – August 23, 2015) was an American athlete. While running for the University of California, he lettered in American football, basketball and track and field. He was called the "golden boy" for the Golden Bea ...

, and field judge

Bob Wortman Robert Vincent "Bob" Wortman (December 3, 1927 – October 20, 2015) was a collegiate athlete at the University of Findlay, Ohio, where he played basketball and football. He went on to be a field judge in the American Football League from 1965 ...

. Finley wore uniform number 14 in 1970, which was claimed by line judge and future referee

Gene Barth Gene Barth (February 1, 1930 – October 11, 1991) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL). He was the referee in Super Bowl XVIII, played January 22, 1984."Gene F. Barth Dies; Was NFL Official For 20 Years", St. ...

in 1971. Bob Frederic, a back judge on the crew of

Jack Vest Jack Douglas Vest (September 16, 1926 – June 2, 1972) was an American athlete, sports coach, and official. He was a 12-letter man at East Tennessee State University, winning honors in football, basketball, and baseball between 1946 and 1950. He ...

in 1970, was promoted to referee in 1971 to succeed Finley as crew chief. The other five members of Finley's 1970 crew remained with Frederic through the 1973 season, prior to Lepore's promotion to referee for 1974. Finley was drafted in the second round (15th overall pick) by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the

1937 NFL Draft The 1937 National Football League Draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections, ...

. However, he signed to play professional baseball with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in 1937 and spent six seasons in the Red Sox organization. Finley is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His

major league debut Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

came with the Phillies, in a 4th of July doubleheader against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

. During Finley’s two seasons in the big leagues he appeared in 122 games — 98 as a catcher. Finley batted .251 (91-for-362) with 2

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 28

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI), and 27

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

. In 1944 he ranked fifth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in the

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

category with 5. On January 2, 1986, Finley died at the age of 70 in

West Covina, California West Covina is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most popul ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Bob 1915 births 1986 deaths American Football League officials College football officials Major League Baseball catchers National Football League officials Philadelphia Phillies players SMU Mustangs baseball coaches SMU Mustangs baseball players SMU Mustangs football players Minor league baseball managers Clarksdale Red Sox players Canton Terriers players Dallas Rebels players Gadsden Pilots players Knoxville Smokies players Moultrie Packers players Rocky Mount Red Sox players Saginaw Bears players Scranton Red Sox players Seattle Rainiers players Shreveport Sports players People from Ennis, Texas Sportspeople from Ellis County, Texas Baseball players from Texas

See also

References

Further reading

External links