George Levi Magerkurth ( ;Abel, Allen J. "Going Down Swinging Fan Frankie Germano Delivered Swift Justice When an Ump's Call Cost the Bums a Win," ''Sports Illustrated'', August 19, 1996.
Retrieved February 6, 2022. December 30, 1888 – October 7, 1966) 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

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 ...

from 1929 to 1947. Magerkurth umpired 2,814 major league games in his 19-year career. He umpired in four

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 ...

(

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

) and two All-Star Games (

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

and

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

). Magerkurth also played in one game for the

Rock Island Independents The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated ...

of the

American Professional Football Association 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 maj ...

in 1920. Magerkurth started out as a minor league catcher, getting trials Hannibal, Rockford, and Duluth in 1907 and 1908. He played for the Kearney Kapitalists in 1910–1911. After working in a factory job, he played football for the Rock Island Independents in 1920 and became a minor league umpire in 1922. Magerkurth umped in the Mississippi Valley League in 1922 and the International League in 1923. He also worked in the American Association and Pacific Coast League before moving up to the NL in 1929. After leaving the NL, Magerkurth umped in some college semi-pro games, and was a baseball commentator for a Moline, IL TV station. Following the conclusion of a ten-inning 4–3

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

loss to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...

on September 16, 1940,Cincinnati Reds at Brooklyn Dodgers (box score), September 16, 1940 – Baseball-Reference.com.
Retrieved February 6, 2022. Magerkurth was confronted, knocked down on his back and repeatedly

punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

ed by 21-year-old Dodgers fan Frankie Germano. Magerkurth was not injured and declined to press

criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can ...

s. The incident stemmed from a tenth-inning play when he called

Ival Goodman Ival Richard Goodman (July 23, 1908 – November 25, 1984) was an All-Star right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1935–1942) and Chicago Cubs (1943–1944). Goodman, who batted left-handed and threw right-h ...

safe at second base on a force-out attempt in which

Pete Coscarart Peter Joseph Coscarart (June 16, 1913 – July 24, 2002) was a second baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1938 through 1946 for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Listed at 5' 11" , 175 lb. , Coscarart batte ...

had bobbled the ball. Instead of two outs, the Dodgers faced a bases loaded situation with one out. The runner at third Mike McCormick scored the eventual deciding run on a Bill Baker

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

. The second-place Dodgers were eliminated from postseason contention when the Reds defeated 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 ...

to win the National League pennant two days later."Dodger Fan, Angered by Defeat, Pummels Umpire," ''LIFE'' (magazine), September 30, 1940.
Retrieved October 30, 2022. Germano, who had been on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, was ordered back to the New York State Vocational Institution to complete his 18-month sentence for

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

References

External links

The Sporting News umpire card
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magerkurth, George 1888 births 1966 deaths Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Kansas Rock Island Independents players Deaths from cancer in Illinois People from McPherson, Kansas American television sports announcers

See also

References

External links