Baseball’s Judicial Branch

George Will on Bruce Weber’s new book on baseball umpires, As They See ’Em:

Umpires — the only people who are on the field during the entire game and the only ones indifferent to the outcome — were depicted in pre-Civil War drawings wearing top hats and carrying walking sticks. An account of the (supposedly) first game between organized teams — June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, N.J. — mentioned the umpire fining a player six cents for swearing.

★ Thursday, 9 April 2009