Stephen Patrick Cusack (September 27, 1876 – June 16, 1952), was an American professional

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'', ...

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), ...

. He appeared in 51 games as 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 s ...

umpire in 1909, and an additional 141 games for the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

in 1914. In his 192 total games, he umpired 139 games in the field, and 53 games behind home plate. He had a total of nine ejections during his career.

Umpiring career

Cusack began the 1909 season in the National League, but was in the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

by the end of the year. Cusack's brief stint in the National League was marked by an incident in which he was assaulted by an irate player and threatened by several others. In a May game, Cusack called Cincinnati catcher

Frank Roth Francis Charles Roth (October 11, 1878 – March 27, 1955) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1903 to 1910 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, and Cincinnat ...

out on a play at home plate. Roth struck Cusack in the chest with both fists. Several of Roth's teammates, with baseball bats in hand, crowded around Cusack and made threats toward the umpire. For 1910, Cusack joined the American Association. By 1911, Cusack was umpiring in the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

. In 1914, Cusack signed on to umpire in the upstart Federal League. He was dismissed by the league following that season.

Later life

After his retirement from baseball, Cusack entered law enforcement. He became a deputy U.S. marshal and once took custody of swindler

Oscar Hartzell Oscar Merril Hartzell (1876–1943) was an American con man who ran a confidence scam by claiming rightful ownership of the estate of Sir Francis Drake. In total, Hartzell swindled at least $2 million, from 70,000 to 80,000 people. Early life ...

Death

Cusack died in his hometown of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the age of 75, and is interred at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in

Worth, Illinois Worth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,970. Geography Worth is located at (41.688827, -87.792659). According to the 2010 census, Worth has a total area of , o ...

References

1876 births 1952 deaths Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Chicago Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Alsip, Illinois) {{US-baseball-umpire-stub