John Henry "Herm" Doscher, Sr. (December 20, 1852 – March 20, 1934) was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

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 the early years of 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 ...

, playing for five different teams in the National Association and

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 though . He also served as a regular umpire in both early major leagues, the NL (1880–81) and

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 ...

(1887–88, 1890). His son

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

was a major league

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for several years, mainly for the

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

. Jack Doscher was the first son of a major leaguer to also play in the majors.

Playing career

Born in New York City, Doscher began his playing career in the National Association with the

Brooklyn Atlantics The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn ("Atlantic" or the "Brooklyn Atlantics") was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty. The team was also the first baseball club to visit the White House in 1865 at the invitation of President And ...

as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. He only played in six games that year, but batted .360, and played in only one game in the season, also in Brooklyn. He didn't play in the Association in , but did return for the season when he played in 22 games, all at third base, for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. He didn't hit very well, and was only able to play in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

for the next few seasons. One of his stops was with the

London Tecumsehs The historic London Tecumsehs were a professional men's baseball team in London, Ontario, Canada, that were first formed in 1868 — a merger of the Forest City Base Ball Club and the London Base Ball Club — which, according to George Railton's ...

in , a team that went on to win the championship that season. He reached the National League again in , when he joined the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...

. After that season, Doscher was named to the NL umpiring staff, and he worked 51 games in and 79 in before returning to the playing ranks with five games for his newest and last team, the Cleveland Blues. He appeared in 25 games in , ending his playing career.

Mistaken expulsion and reinstatement

In 1882, he accepted a temporary job as a scout with Cleveland, even though he had signed a contract with the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

for the season. The Cleveland directors had him expelled from the league for "embezzelment and obtaining money under false pretense". It was later proven in NYC court that the original contract was never signed by Detroit, voiding the original contract. He was unanimously reinstated in , and returned to umpiring in the American Association in 1887.

Umpiring career

Known as a colorful, but a no-nonsense, hardline player, he was a natural to the umpiring profession. Once quoted as saying "I've got to play ring master, school teacher, poppa and momma, and doctor in every game", he would use any tactic he could to control the game, even physical force if necessary. His full-time return as an umpire lasted just three season, , and , but his officiating career was not without notable occurrences. He was involved in two

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 ...

s; one occurred on August 19, , when he was the umpire for

Larry Corcoran Lawrence J. Corcoran (August 10, 1859 – October 14, 1891) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. Corcoran debuted in the 1880 season, where he won 43 games and led the Chicago team to the National ...

's no-hitter, just the fourth no-hitter thrown in the major leagues. The other was

Adonis Terry William H. "Adonis" Terry (August 7, 1864 – February 24, 1915) was an American Major League Baseball player whose career spanned from his debut with the Brooklyn Atlantics in , to the Chicago Colts in . In his 14 seasons, he compiled a 197-1 ...

's no-hitter on May 27, , Terry's second career no-hitter. On September 21, , with the Rochester Broncos at the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

in the second game of a doubleheader, and St. Louis leading 10–3 in the eighth inning, Doscher ejected Rochester's

Sandy Griffin Tobias Charles "Sandy" Griffin (October 24, 1858 – June 24, 1926) was a Major League Baseball center fielder. Griffin played for the New York Gothams (1884), Rochester Broncos (1890), Washington Statesmen (1891), and the National League ...

for arguing and called an end to game, giving the victory to St. Louis because Griffin refused to leave the field. It was Doscher's only

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...

on record as an umpire.

Later years

Doscher's occupations in subsequent years include work as a scout; the discovery of 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 ...

Willie Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn ...

is attributed to him. Doscher died in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

at the age of 81, and was interred at Elmlawn Cemetery in

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda (formally ''City of Tonawanda'') is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,130 at the 2010 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal (Tonawanda Creek) from North Ton ...

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doscher, Herm 1852 births 1934 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen 19th-century baseball players Brooklyn Atlantics players Washington Nationals (NA) players Troy Trojans players Chicago White Stockings players Cleveland Blues (NL) players Baseball players from New York City Major League Baseball umpires London Tecumseh players Binghamton Bingos players