Bull Perrine

Frederick "Bull" Perrine (1877 – June 5, 1915) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1909 to 1912. Perrine umpired 507 major league games in his four-year career. He was the home plate umpire on April 20, 1910, when Addie Joss threw a no-hitter.[1] Upon his retirement following an illness, league president Ban Johnson described Perrine as the league's best umpire.[2]

Bull Perrine
Bull Perrine, 1909
Born
Frederick Perrine

1877
Oakland, California
DiedJune 5, 1915 (aged 38)
Napa, California
OccupationUmpire
Years active1909–1912
EmployerAmerican League

Playing career

Perrine was a pitcher in minor league baseball prior to his umpiring days, though records are sparse. With the Seattle Siwashes in the independent Pacific Coast League in 1903, he is recorded as pitching in one game and giving up four earned runs over five innings in a losing effort. He played with San Francisco and Oakland of the independent California State League in 1904.[3]

When he entered umpiring in 1905, an article in Sporting Life said that Perrine "has never played ball in the East, but is pretty generally known from British Columbia to Old Mexico as a ball tosser. He played one year in Honolulu in the Sugarcane League."[4]

Umpiring career

In 1905, Perrine took a job as a Pacific Coast League umpire. In that first year, he was assaulted on the field twice within two weeks.[5][6] On April 16, he was kicked in the breast by a player named Flood of the Los Angeles Looloos. Perrine angered the 4,000 spectators when he ended the game a short time later. However, the game was called not because of Flood's behavior, but because players needed to catch a 5:00 pm train.[5] Exactly two weeks later, he was attacked on the field again. This time he received cuts when a player began punching him; the player was subdued by police. San Francisco's Marty Murphy was arrested and thrown out of the league for the incident; Perrine was able to dress his wounds and he continued working the game.[6]

Perrine was promoted to the American League in 1909. After working a Philadelphia-Boston doubleheader in his rookie season with partner Silk O'Loughlin, Perrine received a police escort off the field. Boston fans were enraged by several decisions that went against the team.[7]

Notable games

1910

In his second year in the major leagues, Perrine called balls and strikes for a no-hit game thrown by Addie Joss in 1910.[8] In that same year, he umpired in Cy Young's 500th career win in the second game of a doubleheader.[9]

1912

Perrine umpired the first game played at Navin Field, later known as Tiger Stadium, on April 20, 1912. In the eleven-inning contest, the Tigers and pitcher George Mullin defeated the Naps 6–5.[10]

Less than a month later, Perrine worked in the Detroit-Philadelphia game that featured a full team of replacement players for Detroit. Ty Cobb had been suspended for severely beating a disabled heckler. When Perrine enforced the suspension and stopped Cobb from taking the field, the entire team walked off the field with Cobb in protest. Tigers management had several locals on standby for this possibility, including college student and future Catholic priest Al Travers. In a complete eight innings of pitching, Travers gave up 24 runs on 26 hits, including six triples.[11]

Illness

Perrine suffered a sunstroke during a game early in the 1912 season. In July 1912, it was reported that Perrine "broke down completely" the month before and that he had been in poor health all season. He sought relief at several springs in the east. When these were unsuccessful, he came home. Though the report describes Perrine as on his way to New York to resume umpiring duties, he never appeared in another game. By late August 1912, Perrine was reported to be unlikely to ever return to umpiring, as he was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism requiring a cane.[12][13] In February 1913, American League club owners voted unanimously to provide monetary assistance to Perrine, who was said to be facing blindness.[14]

On the affidavit of his sister Margaret in September 1913, Perrine was held for a week of observation at an emergency receiving hospital and then sent to the Napa State Hospital. Upon his commitment, he was described as a "hopeless" case of locomotor ataxia. Perrine was said to be "too violent when taken into court", so the emergency commitment evaluation was held in the hospital.[15][16]

Death

Perrine died on June 5, 1915, at Napa State Hospital, where he had resided for more than a year. He was 38 years old.[17]

See also

References
  1. "No Hitters Chronologically". retrosheet.org. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  2. "Obituary: Fred Perrine" (PDF). New York Times. June 7, 1915. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. "Bull Perrine Minor League Statistics & History". baseball-reference.com.
  4. "Pacific Coast Palaver" (PDF). Sporting Life. April 15, 1905. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  5. "Fierce Row at Ball Game". Los Angeles Sunday Times. April 17, 1905. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  6. McKenna, Brian (2007). Early Exits: The Premature Endings of Baseball Careers. Scarecrow Press. p. 56. ISBN 0810858584.
  7. "Boston Fans Hostile to Umpire" (PDF). New York Times. July 1, 1909. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  8. "No Hitters Alphabetically by Umpire". retrosheet.org.
  9. "Cy Young Wins 500th Victory" (PDF). New York Times. July 20, 1910. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  10. "Navin Field Firsts". retrosheet.org.
  11. Livacari, Gary. "SABR Baseball Biography Project: Allan Travers". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  12. "Bull Perrine is Going East Again". San Francisco Call. July 9, 1912. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  13. "Johnson Task is to Keep His Umpire Staff to Standard" (PDF). Sporting Life. August 24, 1912. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  14. "Three Baseball Leagues in Session" (PDF). New York Times. February 11, 1913. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  15. "Bull Perrine Sent to Napa Asylum". San Francisco Call. September 18, 1913. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  16. "Bull Perrine to Madhouse". The Milwaukee Journal. September 19, 1913. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  17. "Umpire "Bull" Perrine Dead" (PDF). New York Times. June 6, 1915. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
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