Lawrence John Goetz (February 15, 1895 – October 31, 1962) was a professional baseball

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'', ...

. Goetz started umpiring in the

Blue Grass League The Blue Grass League was a minor league baseball circuit at the Class D level that existed in the early 1900s. There were two incarnations of the league, one that ran from 1908 to 1912 and one that existed from 1922 to 1924. It consisted entire ...

from

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

. He also umpired in the Western Ohio League,

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmon ...

, and 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 ...

. He then became a successful

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 ...

umpire from

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 ...

through the

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 y ...

season, working in 3,218 games. Goetz was an umpire in the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

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 ...

1952 World Series The 1952 World Series featured the 3-time defending champions New York Yankees beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. The Yankees won their 4th consecutive title, tying the mark they set in 1936–1939 under manager Joe McCarthy, and Ca ...

, and was an alternate for the 1940 series as well as working the

1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the seventh playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on Jul ...

. Goetz was also home plate umpire for

Vern Bickford Vernon Edgell Bickford (August 17, 1920 – May 6, 1960) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed starting pitcher, he played six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston/ Milwaukee Braves from 1948 to 1953 in th ...

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 ...

on August 11, 1950. He was one of the umpires in

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

's famous painting ''

Bottom of the Sixth ''Tough Call'' – also known as ''Game Called Because of Rain'', ''Bottom of the Sixth'', or ''The Three Umpires'' – is a 1948 painting by American artist Norman Rockwell, painted for the April 23, 1949, cover of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' ...

'', along with

Beans Reardon John Edward "Beans" Reardon (November 23, 1897 – July 31, 1984) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1926 to 1949. He worked five World Series and three All-Star Games. Early life and caree ...

and

Lou Jorda Louis Delarond Jorda (May 22, 1893 – May 27, 1964) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1927 to 1931 and again from 1940 to 1952. Minor league playing career Jorda began his baseball career in as a catcher ...

. He was known for being a strict disciplinarian and not taking arguments from players, and as a result he earned their respect. He was dismissed in 1957 by National League President Warren Giles, having been inactive the previous season due to illness. The discharged arbitrator had been critical of the Senior Circuit because of the refusal by the league to include umpires in the retired players pension fund. In his last years he served as a commentator for the Mutual Broadcasting Company and had made appearances on local Cincinnati radio programs. Goetz died in his native

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

at the age of 67, following a heart attack. He was survived by his widow, Helen.

References

External links

Umpire Card
1895 births 1962 deaths Major League Baseball umpires Minor league baseball umpires {{US-baseball-umpire-stub