Stephen Michael Palermo (October 9, 1949 – May 14, 2017) was an

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 (A ...

who worked in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

from 1977 to 1991. His field career ended when he was shot in the back following his decision to intervene and apprehend the assailants in an altercation outside Campisi's, a

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Italian restaurant. He wore uniform number 14 when the American League began using uniform numbers for its umpires in 1980, and the number was never reassigned to another AL umpire until after the AL and NL umpire staffs were unified by MLB in 2000.

Biography

Early life and education

Steve Palermo was born on October 9, 1949, in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

. He studied

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campu ...

, Leicester Junior College and Worcester State College. While in school, he worked as a baseball umpire. Barney Deary, who headed Major League Baseball's Umpire Development Program, discovered Palermo working a

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

Umpiring career

His career as an umpire includes the

1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the National ...

, three

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...

(

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

), the

1981 American League Division Series The 1981 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1981 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 6, and ended on Sunday, October 11. The Division Series were approved by team owners on August 6 in response to the ...

and the 1986 All-Star Game. In August 1991, ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' ranked Palermo "Number 1" among American League umpires for overall performance. His first game as an umpire was the Toronto Blue Jays first ever game on April 7, 1977, at Exhibition Stadium. Palermo was the third base umpire for that game. Palermo was one of the first American League umpires to never use the outside chest protector. Starting in 1977, all new AL umpires had to adopt the inside chest protector, which had been used in the National League for decades under the guidance of Hall of Fame umpire

Bill Klem William Joseph Klem, born William Joseph Klimm (February 22, 1874 – September 16, 1951), known as the "Old Arbitrator" and the "father of baseball umpires", was a National League (NL) umpire in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941. He worked ...

. AL umpires on staff prior to 1977 were

grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

and could continue to use the outside protector. Among those umpires with Palermo in the AL Class of '77 were

Durwood Merrill Edwin Durwood Merrill (March 12, 1938 – January 11, 2003) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League for 23 seasons (1977–1999). Merrill was born in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. In 1998 he wrote a col ...

and Vic Voltaggio. His career highlights also include umpiring two of the most famous games in

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

history. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, he worked the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

one-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

to determine the AL's Eastern Division winner. Palermo, serving as the third base umpire, signaled "fair ball" when

Bucky Dent Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent (born Russell Earl O'Dey; November 25, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978 and ...

hit the game-changing

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. On July 4, 1983, Palermo worked behind the plate for

Dave Righetti David Allan Righetti (born November 28, 1958), nicknamed "Rags", is an American professional baseball coach and former player. A left-handed pitcher, Righetti played in Major League Baseball from 1979 through 1995 for the New York Yankees, San F ...

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 ...

against the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

. Palermo was one of the umpires who caught Minnesota Twin pitcher

Joe Niekro Joseph Franklin Niekro ( ; November 7, 1944 – October 27, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the younger brother of pitcher Phil Niekro, and the father of former Major League first baseman Lance Niekro. Niekr ...

in the act of scuffing a baseball on August 3, 1987 in a game at Anaheim Stadium. Steve Palermo provided the umpire's voice in '' Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball'', a

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

baseball video game. Palermo was frequently the target of fiery

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

' manager

Earl Weaver Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television broadcaster. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He be ...

's wrath. Jim Palmer, Hall of Fame Oriole pitcher, remembered that Weaver "second-, third-, and fourth-guessed every call Steve Palermo ever made in his whole career, which, by the law of averages seems a little harsh, since he had a one out of two chance on every pitch."

1991 shooting and recovery

On July 7, 1991, he and several friends, including fellow umpire

Rich Garcia Richard Raul Garcia (born May 22, 1942) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1975 to 1999. Garcia wore uniform number 19 when the AL adopted numbers for its umpires in 1980. Umpiring ca ...

, were dining after a Texas Rangers game when they were alerted that two waitresses were being mugged in the parking lot. In an attempt to apprehend the assailants, he suffered a bullet wound to his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

, resulting in instant

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

from the waist down. Palermo's umpiring career ended, and doctors told Palermo and his wife, Debbie, that he would probably never walk again. Through rehabilitation and determination, Palermo managed to recover, walking with the use of one small leg brace and a cane. He subsequently threw the

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

in Game 1 of the

1991 World Series The 1991 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) held after the 1991 season. The 88th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins ...

, only three months after suffering his injury.

Later life

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

hired Palermo as a special assistant in 1994 and, in 2000, elevated him as a supervisor of umpiring for the league. From 1995 to 1997, Palermo worked part-time as an analyst for

games on

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...

. Palermo died on May 14, 2017, in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As ...

at the age of 67, following a battle with lung cancer.

Honors

In 2003, Palermo began serving as the Honorary Chairman of Assurant Employee Benefits' WillReturn Council. The Council annually presents the

Shining Star of Perseverance Shining, The Shining or Shinin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Shining'' (novel), a 1977 novel by Stephen King ** ''The Shining'' (film), a 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick starring Jack Nicholson ** ''The Shining'' (TV miniseries), a 199 ...

Award to individuals who overcome disabilities. Palermo was also an honorary inductee into the Perseverance Hall of Fame. In 1994, he won the

Arthur Ashe Courage Award The Arthur Ashe Courage Award (sometimes called the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage or Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award) is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a s ...

. Palermo served as honorary commissioner for the Tee Ball game at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

on July 24, 2005, in which children with physical disabilities participated; the game was part of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

George W. Bush's White House Tee Ball Initiative. At the 2012 All-Star Game in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

, Palermo accompanied the umpiring crew to the plate for special recognition.

References

External links

Retrosheet
__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Palermo, Steve 1949 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts Palmero, Steve American shooting survivors Palmero, Steve Major League Baseball umpires Norwich University alumni Worcester State University alumni Deaths from cancer in Kansas Deaths from lung cancer