George H. "Foghorn" Bradley (July 1, 1855 – March 31, 1900) was an American

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'', ...

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), ...

for six full seasons who was born in Medford, Massachusetts. He also played one season 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 ...

Playing career

He played his only season in the major leagues in for the

Boston Red Caps The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

, after having been a late-season signing by

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...

. He started 21 of the team's last 22 games that season, becoming the team's

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

. His totals for the season included nine wins and 10 losses in 22 games pitched. He started 21 games, completing 16 of them including one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. After the season, Wright signed

Tommy Bond Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods on ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...

, and Bradley suspected that he would be the team's new ace, so he signed a lucrative minor league contract and left the National League, never to return as a player.

Umpiring career

The following season he did not continue to play, but instead served as a replacement umpire, as he had in in the National Association. He did not get promoted to full-time umpire until , when he officiated games in the National League until . He would again umpire in the majors in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in . During that era umpires generally worked games single-handedly, and Bradley was no exception, as he worked as the lone umpire in every game of his career. Although his career as an umpire was short, he was involved a couple of historic games. On June 12, 1880, he was the umpire when Lee Richmond pitched the first

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

in major league history, which was also the second no-hitter ever tossed. Later, in that same season, on August 20, he was the umpire for another no-hitter, this time by future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Pud Galvin, throwing the fifth no-hitter in major league history. In total, he officially umpired in 344 games, during an era in which more than one umpire was rarely used in games. Foghorn died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

at the age of 44, and was buried in the Philadelphia Cemetery; he was later re-buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania Huntingdon Valley is a village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Township and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in small sections of Upper Southampton Township and Lower S ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Foghorn 1855 births 1900 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players 19th-century baseball umpires Boston Red Caps players Sportspeople from Medford, Massachusetts Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Major League Baseball umpires