Edward Paul Runge (May 12, 1918 – July 25, 2002) was an American 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 t ...

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'', ...

. He worked in Major League Baseball between 1954 and 1970. During his career, he officiated three

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

and five All-Star games.

Early life

He was born in Buffalo, New York and lived in Buffalo,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

during his childhood.

Umpiring career

Runge's first professional umpiring experience came in the

Big State League The Big State League was a mid-level, Class B level circuit in American minor league baseball that played for 11 seasons, from 1947 through 1957. Its member clubs were exclusively based in Texas. The Corpus Christi Clippers (1955-1956), Texark ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1947. He was promoted to the Pacific Coast League in 1949. He became a Major League umpire in 1954, working 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 ...

. He retired in 1970. After his retirement, Runge said of umpiring, "It's the only occupation where a man has to be perfect his first day on the job and then improve over the years."

Notable games

He was part of the crew that called

Don Larsen's perfect game On October 8, 1956, in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, pitcher Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. It was the only no-hitter in World Series history until the Houston Astr ...

in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. As the right field umpire, Runge made a critical foul ball call in the fourth inning on a potential home run hit by

Duke Snider Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (M ...

. He also was the home plate umpire for Dave Morehead's no-hitter on September 16, 1965.

Personal life

In 1960, Runge testified in court against two Washington men who were accused of attempting to extort money from Runge and fellow umpire

Bill McKinley William Francis McKinley (May 13, 1910 - August 1, 1980) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1946 to 1965. McKinley umpired 2,977 major league games in his 20-year career. He umpired in four World Series and ...

. After Runge and McKinley entered a hotel room with two females, the two men entered the room. The men photographed McKinley and Runge in the company of the women and then held the photograph for blackmail. He is the father of Paul Runge and grandfather of

Brian Runge Brian Edward Runge (born January 5, 1970) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League in 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 to 2012; he wore uniform number 18. Umpiring career Runge worked three Di ...

, both of whom became umpires in the Major Leagues.

Later life and death

In retirement, Runge served as a community liaison and speaker for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. Runge died in San Diego in 2002.

References

External links

Retrosheet.org
1918 births 2002 deaths Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York {{US-baseball-umpire-stub