Frederick "Bull" Perrine (1877 – June 5, 1915) was a professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
who worked in the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
from 1909 to 1912. Perrine umpired 507
major league games in his four-year career. He was the home plate umpire on April 20, 1910, when
Addie Joss
Adrian "Addie" Joss (April 12, 1880 – April 14, 1911), nicknamed "the Human Hairpin", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos of Major League Baseball, later known as the Naps, between 1902 and 191 ...
threw a
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
. Upon his retirement following an illness, league president
Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL).
Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the mino ...
described Perrine as the league's best umpire.
Playing career
Perrine was a pitcher in minor league baseball prior to his umpiring days, though records are sparse. With the Seattle Siwashes in the independent Pacific Coast League in 1903, he is recorded as pitching in one game and giving up four earned runs over five innings in a losing effort. He played with San Francisco and Oakland of the independent California State League in 1904.
When he entered umpiring in 1905, an article in ''Sporting Life'' said that Perrine "has never played ball in the East, but is pretty generally known from British Columbia to Old Mexico as a ball tosser. He played one year in Honolulu in the Sugarcane League."
Umpiring career
In 1905, Perrine took a job as a
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
umpire. In that first year, he was assaulted on the field twice within two weeks.
[ On April 16, he was kicked in the breast by a player named Flood of the Los Angeles Looloos. Perrine angered the 4,000 spectators when he ended the game a short time later. However, the game was called not because of Flood's behavior, but because players needed to catch a 5:00 pm train.] Exactly two weeks later, he was attacked on the field again. This time he received cuts when a player began punching him; the player was subdued by police. San Francisco's Marty Murphy was arrested and thrown out of the league for the incident; Perrine was able to dress his wounds and he continued working the game.
Perrine was promoted to the American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
in 1909. After working a Philadelphia-Boston doubleheader in his rookie season with partner Silk O'Loughlin
Francis H. "Silk" O'Loughlin (August 15, 1872 – December 20, 1918) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1902 to 1918. He umpired in the World Series in 1906, 1909, 1912, 1915 and 1917, serving a ...
, Perrine received a police escort off the field. Boston fans were enraged by several decisions that went against the team.
Notable games
1910
In his second year in the major leagues, Perrine called balls and strikes for a no-hit game thrown by Addie Joss in 1910. In that same year, he umpired in Cy Young
Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...
's 500th career win in the second game of a doubleheader.
1912
Perrine umpired the first game played at Navin Field, later known as Tiger Stadium, on April 20, 1912. In the eleven-inning contest, the Tigers and pitcher George Mullin defeated the Naps 6–5.
Less than a month later, Perrine worked in the Detroit-Philadelphia game that featured a full team of replacement players for Detroit. Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...
had been suspended for severely beating a disabled heckler. When Perrine enforced the suspension and stopped Cobb from taking the field, the entire team walked off the field with Cobb in protest. Tigers management had several locals on standby for this possibility, including college student and future Catholic priest Al Travers. In a complete eight innings of pitching, Travers gave up 24 runs on 26 hits, including six triples.
Illness
Perrine suffered a sunstroke during a game early in the 1912 season. In July 1912, it was reported that Perrine "broke down completely" the month before and that he had been in poor health all season. He sought relief at several springs in the east. When these were unsuccessful, he came home. Though the report describes Perrine as on his way to New York to resume umpiring duties, he never appeared in another game. By late August 1912, Perrine was reported to be unlikely to ever return to umpiring, as he was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...
requiring a cane. In February 1913, American League club owners voted unanimously to provide monetary assistance to Perrine, who was said to be facing blindness.
On the affidavit of his sister Margaret in September 1913, Perrine was held for a week of observation at an emergency receiving hospital and then sent to the Napa State Hospital
Napa State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Napa, California, founded in 1875. It is located along California State Route 221, the Napa- Vallejo Highway, and is one of California's five state hospitals. Napa State Hospital holds civil and for ...
. Upon his commitment, he was described as a "hopeless" case of locomotor ataxia
Locomotor ataxia is the inability to precisely control one's own bodily movements.
__TOC__ Disease
People afflicted with this disease may walk in a jerky, non-fluid manner. They will not know where their arms and legs are without looking (i.e. a f ...
. Perrine was said to be "too violent when taken into court", so the emergency commitment evaluation was held in the hospital.
Death
Perrine died on June 5, 1915, at Napa State Hospital, where he had resided for more than a year. He was 38 years old.
See also
*List of Major League Baseball umpires
The following is a list of major league baseball umpires. The list includes umpires who worked in any of four 19th century major leagues (American Association, National Association, Players' League, Union Association), one defunct 20th century m ...
References
External links
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrine, Bull
Major League Baseball umpires
Sportspeople from Oakland, California
1877 births
1915 deaths