Edward Lee Ballanfant (December 27, 1895 – July 15, 1987) 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'', ...
in
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), ...
(MLB). He was a player-manager in minor league baseball before his MLB umpiring career. As an umpire, he worked four World Series and four All-Star Games. After his umpiring days, Ballanfant spent many years as a major league scout.
Career
Ballanfant was a minor league infielder from 1915 to 1925. In 1925 he served as player-manager for the Greenville Hunters for part of the season. He suffered a career-ending leg injury that season. Ballanfant began umpiring in the
Lone Star League
The Lone Star League was the name of three American minor professional baseball leagues located in the state of Texas during the 20th century. The leagues operated from 1927–1929 (as a Class D circuit), 1947–1948 (Class C) and 1977 (Class A ...
in 1927–1928, then moved on to the
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
from 1929 to 1935. Ballanfant made his major league umpiring debut in 1936 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 ...
(NL), where he stayed for 22 years. He umpired the
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, and
1955 World Series
The 1955 World Series matched the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won while based ...
.Retrosheet /ref> Upon his retirement from major league umpiring in 1957, Ballanfant was the NL's senior umpire.
Notable games
In a 1939 Reds-Giants matchup, Ballanfant made a fair-foul ruling that went against the Giants and set them in an uproar. Ballanfant was merely pushed by the Giants catcher, but Ballanfant's partner
George Magerkurth
George Levi Magerkurth ( ;Billy Jurges. Both Magerkurth and Jurges received fines and brief suspensions.
Post-umpiring days
After retiring from umpiring, Ballanfant was hired as a scout for the Chicago Cubs. Ballanfant also served as a scout for the Houston Astros from 1961 to 1970 and the Texas Rangers from 1972 to 1981. He was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980. He died in 1987. Ballanfant was posthumously inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Texas League Hall of Fame in 2009.
Personal life
A World War I U.S. Army veteran, Ballanfant is known to have taught courses in marksmanship in the spring before the 1942 season.
In Larry R. Gerlach's book of interviews with umpires, ''The Men in Blue'', Ballanfant said, "I can truthfully say I never did like umpiring. I stayed with it because I had to eat."
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball umpires
The following is a list of major league baseball umpires. The list includes umpires who worked in any of four 19th century major leagues (American Association, National Association, Players' League, Union Association), one defunct 20th century ma ...