WEB SITE CREATED
BY SCOTT PARKS
Thanks Jack Oswald , Francis Taylor & Lane Harris
Above: AFL umpire, Dalton Taylor (right) avoids getting an earfull from Eufaula manager Dutch Konneman and two of his players.
Dalton Taylor (right) was a Class D professional baseball umpire from 1945-'53. He umpired for the Alabama and Georgia State Leagues and the Alabama Florida League. In 1953 he made the decision to remain in the Malone, Florida area (which is near Graceville) when he received a promotion to Class B baseball. This move would have taken him to the Carolinas and the Virginias to umpire the Piedmont League. However, Taylor said, "I wasn't ready to leave, so I stayed at home."
As a player in the AFL, Bob Odenheimer was a legendary umpire-baiter and fighter. So what does a combative tough guy do when his playing days are over? Become an umpire, of course
Left to Right - Wayne Stutts, Don Denkinger, Andy Olsen, Ed Chitwood
The actual years many of these men in blue worked in the league is a little sketchy at best. Some box scores don't list the umpires, some do. Most umps worked only one season, some appear in more than one year. Many times, the spelling of an ump's name was so butchered that you have to question whether there were two umpires or one. For example, one 1960 box score lists one of the umpires as Ekinger. This actually was Don Denkinger, well-known major league umpire, and one of two men (Dutch Rennert was the other) to umpire in both the AFL and the Major Leagues. Because it's so hard to pin point years for many of these men, I'm grouping the list of AFL umpires by era, not year. If anyone knows the first names of the men listed with last name only, let me know.
AFL Umpires
Charles Barber 1955-1956 Bob Beaudreau 1961 Bevis 1936 Eugene Blanek 1946 Bill Blomgren 1961 Lorenzo Blythe 1936-1937 Bohn 1961 John Burroughs 1936-1937 H. L. Camp 1937 Capozzi John Carbo 1950-1951 Mike Carrdonna 1939 Carter 1936-1938 David L.Chafin 1956-58 Lee Chamberlain 1948 Ed Chitwood 1950-1951 Clark 1959 D. B. Clark 1940 Homer Cox 1940 Crawford 1936 Cullen 1959-1960 John Daniela 1936 - One of the original 4 AFL umpires Davis 1956 Kermit Davis 1949-1950 Bob Dehaney 1951 - Umpire in the 1951 Chase Riddle incident Don Denkinger 1960-1961 - Umpired in Major Leagues Dan Doering 1948 Donatelli 1958 August Dorsey 1950 Frank Drubina 1946 Drummond 1958-1959 Drummond 1948 Russ Edgemon 1937 Tony Favano 1957-1958 Collins Fenton 1940 Findra 1958-1960 Foster 1954 Cy Furman 1940 Giovino 1955-1956 Frank Girard 1939 Omer Glover 1951 - Also AFL player Gotch 1946 Graham 1936 Tom Haisten 1952 Haler 1962 Harder 1961 Ed Harris 1940 Bob "Peanut"Hasty 1950-1951 Also AFL player Head 1937 C. C. Hodge 1951 Horn 1953 Jack Horvater 1936-1938, 1940 - Original AFL Umpire-in-Chief, President of the AFL from 1946-1948 Ed Hoyn 1950 Javena 1955 Kauzney 1955 Max Kelley 1959 Kendall 1938 Sid Kenseth 1956 Kinnunen 1949-1950 John Klumker 1959 - Also played in AFL Ed Krysiak 1948
Sullivan Lakey 1951 Dolly Lambert 1949 -1951 - Also played in AFL Lawrence 1960 Lewis 1961 Emory Lindsey 1951 - 1954 - Also played in AFL Tony Lupani 1957 - 1959 Ted Mackin 1952 Dom Marci 1952 Elmer Manakey 1947 Bill Martin 1936 Tony Martin 1947 W. J. Maughn 1937 - 1939 McBride 1962 Oscar Melbon 1950 - 1951 D. G. McPherson 1936 - One of the original 4 AFL Umpires Moore 1936 Paul Morris 1948 Tom Nicholson 1947 - 1948 Fred O'Brien 1951 Bob Odenheimer 1954 - Former AFL Player Panosh 1959 - 1960 Pete Pappas 1957 - 1959 Jim Prevatt 1961 Harry Reeder, Jr. 1953 Dutch Rennert 1950 - 1960 - Also umpired in Major Leagues Roland Ribble 1962 - Also played in AFL Ruch 1946 Ryerson 1959 Bill Sawuch 1954 Shaver 1962 Charlie Silverstein 1956 Tom Simon 1951 Smith 1954-1955 Ben Smith 1948 Harvey Snyder 1936 - 1937 Carl Sperduti 1948 George Steranka 1960 Tom Stupi 1947 Wayne Stutts 1960 Dalton Taylor 1952 - 1957 Bruce Tennyson 1960 - 1962 John Totis 1957 - 1960 Clayton Trumbull 1948 Earl Upton 1951 - 1953 Umpire-in-Chief, 1952 Vanderhoof 1949 Vann 1938 Vogel 1946 Andy Ware 1936 - 1937 One of the Original 4 AFL Umpires Lloyd Weeks 1951 - 1953 Dick Wells 1957 - 1958 R. J. Williams 1957 - 1959 Bill Wyse 1960 - 1962 Parks York 1953 - Former AFL player
Having both played and umpired myself for a very short while, it was great to see my dad’s name, Harry Reeder, listed as an AFL umpire in 1953. He got the job through his dad, my grandfather, Harry L. Reeder Sr., who had been a ballplayer in the Senators organization, but he played mostly in the old Textile leagues of South Carolina. Dad began his umpiring experience in the AFL, a green 22 year-old. After the Alabama Florida League, he umpired in the Big State League. I was five at the time and we lived in Waco Texas. Dad also umpired in the old Sally League and in the Southern League. Dad contract was finally sold to the Carolina League. He left baseball in 1955. John Henry Moss, president of the Western Carolina League, talked him back into the game in 1960 and then in 1964 sold him to the Southern League. Pete Rose, Dave Bristol, and Tommy Helms all affirmed that he was one of the best umpires that they had ever seen, but politics robbed him of any chance at umpiring in the big leagues. He left baseball for good and became a businessman. My Dad died April 5th, 2002. I remember watching dad's training session in the kitchen with his own dad in Atlanta Georgia one night. Grandad gave him some of the “finer points” on how to manage a game as I watched, wide eyed, open mouthed, silent, and very proud.
Harry L. Reeder III