Frank Edward Secory (August 24, 1912 – April 7, 1995) was an American
left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
and
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'', ...
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), ...
who played 186 games from 1940 to 1946 with the
Cincinnati Reds,
Detroit Tigers, and
Chicago Cubs. His best season was , when he
batted .321 in 22 games for the Cubs, the team with which he played nearly his entire career. In Game 6 of the
1945 World Series
The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. Th ...
against the Tigers, with the game tied 7–7, he had a pinch-hit
single with one out in the 12th inning; a pinch runner,
Bill Schuster
William Charles Schuster (August 4, 1912 – June 28, 1987) was a professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1937 to 1945. He would play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Bees, and Chicago Cubs.
Schuester at ...
, later scored on a walk-off
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
off the bat of
Stan Hack
Stanley Camfield Hack (December 6, 1909 – December 15, 1979), nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top t ...
to give the Cubs an 8–7 win, sending the Series to a seventh game.
Early life
Secory was born in
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is a city and the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,338 in the 2020 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro G ...
, and moved in his youth to
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
; he graduated from
Western Michigan College with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1936.
After making his debut with the Tigers, having one
at bat in 1940, he was waived by the team and selected by the Reds. His career was sidetracked, however, when he fractured his leg sliding into home on May 10 of the following year while with the
Syracuse Chiefs
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
* Syracuse, Indiana
*Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
, as he had been expected to shortly be promoted to the Reds. Despite missing three months, he ended the season with a .329 batting average and 15
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 ba ...
in 31 games. After his major league career ended with the Cubs in 1946, he became an umpire in the
West Texas–New Mexico League
The West Texas–New Mexico League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1937 through 1955, with a hiatus from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. The league started as a Class D level league, upgraded to Class C in 1946 and then ...
in 1948 and the
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
from 1949 to 1951.
[''1970 National League Green Book'', p. 30.]
Career
Secory became a
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 ...
(NL) umpire from 1952 to 1970, and worked in the
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 ...
in
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
,
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1964 and
1969, serving as crew chief in 1964. He also officiated in the
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...
in 1955, 1958, 1961 (second game), 1964, 1967 and 1970. He was the second base umpire on May 26, 1959, when
Harvey Haddix
Harvey Haddix, Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies ...
of 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 ...
pitched a
perfect game for 12 innings before allowing a baserunner and losing in the 13th; he was again at second base on June 21, 1964 for
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 ...
pitcher
Jim Bunning's perfect game
On Sunday, June 21, 1964, Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the New York Mets 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium. A father of seven children ...
, the first official regular-season perfect game since 1922. On August 24, 1960, Secory's 48th birthday, while he was umpiring a game at the
Los Angeles Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a me ...
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
sportscaster
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...
unexpectedly invited fans listening to the game radio broadcast at the stadium to yell, "Happy Birthday, Frank!" on the count of three, which startled Secory.
In all, Secory umpired in nine official
no-hitters in his career, which set an NL record for umpires and was then one short of the major league record held by
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 ...
. Secory tied
Bob Emslie
Robert Daniel Emslie (January 27, 1859 – April 26, 1943) was a Canadian pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who went on to set numerous records for longevity as an umpire. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Emslie had a brief professional playi ...
's NL record of eight no-hitters on May 1, 1969, when he worked second base in
Don Wilson's 4–0 gem; after
Augie Donatelli
August Joseph Donatelli (August 22, 1914 – May 24, 1990) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1950 to 1973. Highly regarded for his ability, he was also known for his inclination to eject players ...
also tied the record later that year, Secory broke it by working in his ninth no-hitter on June 12, 1970, officiating at first base in
Dock Ellis
Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. (March 11, 1945 – December 19, 2008) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams ...
' 2–0 win. After Secory's retirement, Donatelli tied his record in 1972, and
Tom Gorman tied it in 1976 before
Paul Pryor broke it upon working in his 10th no-hitter in 1978. Secory was also behind the plate on May 26, 1956, when three
Cincinnati Reds pitchers held the
Milwaukee Braves hitless for nine innings before losing in the 10th; it was the first time in major league history that multiple pitchers combined to throw nine innings without allowing a hit. He was again at second base for the second game of a doubleheader at
Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. on May 31, 1964, between the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
and the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
, when the two teams battled for 23 innings before the Giants won 8–6, setting a record for the longest game ever at 7 hours 23 minutes.
Personal life
Secory married Vonda Conner on February 7, 1938, and they had two children.
[ A resident of Port Huron, Michigan, since the 1940s, Secory died there at age 82.
]
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 ma ...
References
External links
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secory, Frank
1912 births
1995 deaths
Major League Baseball left fielders
Chicago Cubs players
Cincinnati Reds players
Detroit Tigers players
Baseball players from Iowa
Baseball players from Michigan
Western Michigan Broncos baseball players
American people of Czech descent
Major League Baseball umpires
People from Mason City, Iowa