John Paul Pryor (July 10, 1927 – December 15, 1995) 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 t ...

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 ...

from 1961 to 1981. Pryor wore uniform number 13 for most of his career. Pryor umpired 3,094 major league games in his 21-year career. He umpired in three

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 ...

(

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

and 1980), four

League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, an ...

(1970, 1974, 1977 and 1981) and three All-Star Games (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, 1971 and 1978).Retrosheet
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Playing and coaching career

Pryor was a minor league baseball

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 ...

from 1945 to 1948 in the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. Not long after graduating from

High Point College High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

, Pryor came to

Denton, North Carolina Denton is a town in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,636 at the 2010 census. Geography Denton is located in southern Davidson County at (35.632752, -80.111603). It is southeast of Lexington, the county seat. ...

as a high school football and baseball coach. Pryor umpired in the Winter Leagues in Puerto Rico for two seasons early in his major league career. He later moved to Racine, Wisconsin in order to be able to commute between Chicago and Milwaukee when he was assigned to work Cubs and Braves games. He took offseason teaching and coaching positions at St. Lucy's Parochial School and Dominican College respectively.

Umpiring career

Early career

Pryor's minor league umpiring experience included time in the

Georgia State League The Georgia State League was an American Class D minor league in professional baseball that existed in 1906, 1914, 1920–1921 and 1948–1956. During its last incarnation, it existed alongside two nearby Class D circuits, the Georgia–Florida Le ...

Tri-State League The Tri-State League was the name of six different circuits in American minor league baseball. History The first league of that name played for four years (1887–1890) and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. The second leagu ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, SALLY League (South Atlantic League) 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 ...

. He was promoted to the major leagues in September 1961. Pryor suffered broken teeth in 1965 when a

Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell Stargell (March 6, 1940 – April 9, 2001), nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1962–1982) ...

foul ball smashed into his mask.

Later career

Pryor and umpire

Ted Hendry Eugene "Ted" Hendry (born August 31, 1940) is a former professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1977 to 1999, wearing uniform number 35 when the AL adopted numbers for its umpires in 1980. Hendry umpired 2,906 major lea ...

signed new major league contracts just prior to the 1979 season, so they began to umpire that year when other umpires were striking. After two games, Pryor felt pressured to join the striking umpires, but the league quickly ordered him back to work citing a mandatory ten-day notice period. Pryor umpired until he was able to join the strike on April 16. Pryor and the league's other umpires returned to the field when the strike was settled the next month. In his last major league season, Pryor ejected

César Cedeño César Cedeño Encarnación (born February 25, 1951) is a Dominican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1970 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Houston Astros where ...

after Cedeno had to be separated from a heckling fan. Pryor retired from umpiring in 1981 after struggling with foot problems. His last series was the League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Montreal Expos in 1981 in which the Dodgers prevailed in five games. He recorded only thirty ejections in 21 seasons in the majors, including a stretch of nearly five years (1972 - 1977) without an ejection.

Paul Pryor Travel Bags

In the 1970s, Paul designed a duffel bag for umpire equipment. Within a few years, Paul Pryor Travel Bags was founded. At one time, the company had accounts with the NCAA in all sports, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the Canadian Football League as well as numerous local schools and businesses. In 1992, the company was purchased by Bob Milleman, who remains majority shareholder and president.

Personal life

In addition to teaching and umpiring, Pryor worked stints as a car salesman and a referee for the Central States Football League. He also worked in sales for Schaeffer Beer, Strohs Beer. He was also in demand as a public speaker. Pryor maintained his teaching and coaching position in Wisconsin during the baseball offseasons, with an arrangement to leave that job early for the start of the major league season. He was married to the late Carleen Hammond of Hendersonville, N.C. They had four children and two grandchildren.

References

External links

The Sporting News umpire card
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Paul 1927 births 1995 deaths Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Providence County, Rhode Island People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island Dominican College of Racine faculty North Wilkesboro Flashers players