Frank John Dezelan (December 29, 1929 – March 7, 2011) was an American

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), ...

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 ...

for five seasons between September 23, 1960, and October 1, 1970. He was born in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...

. Born to immigrants from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

who settled in Johnstown, Dezelan served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He played baseball during military service, and on the sandlots of

Cambria County Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset Cou ...

. He spent thirteen years umpiring in

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

, before ending his career due to a brain tumor. While being treated by his dentist, Richard Goldberg, Frank discussed his love of baseball, and Goldberg suggested that he become an umpire. Dezelan decided to heed the advice and was accepted into the Al Somers Academy of Professional Umpiring in Daytona Beach, Florida. After graduating in 1958, Dezelan began his umpiring career in the Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), Northern League that year and returned for the 1959 season. Dezelan moved up to the South Atlantic League in 1960 and 1961 and to the Pacific Coast League from 1962 to 1963. He then worked in the Southern League (1964–2020), Southern League in 1964 and 1965 and in the International League from 1966 through 1968. In addition, he would be an umpire in the National League for the last weeks of the season from 1966 to 1968, then full-time from 1969 to 1970. He officiated in 370 NL games. When the National League umpires began wearing numbers in 1970, Dezelan was assigned number 6.MLB.com – Former umpire Dezelan dies
/ref> Frank Dezelan worked with some of the baseball greats, including Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays. Dezelan had the home plate when Mays hit his 600th home run. Dezelan umpired during the All Star Game on July 14,1970 at the new Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. This game was a victory for the National League, and the first MLB All Star Game played at night. The most memorable moment of the game was the final run, scored in the 12th inning when Pete Rose slid into the plate, knocked the catcher, Ray Fosse over, causing him to drop the ball, which enabled the game-winning run. Frank Dezelan died in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, at the age of 81. He is noted in the archives of The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dezelan, Frank 1929 births 2011 deaths Major League Baseball umpires United States Navy personnel of the Korean War American people of Slovenian descent Sportspeople from Johnstown, Pennsylvania