How to "catfish" an umpire
A tale from the dugout of the 1927 Yankees
Art Fletcher played 13 seasons in the big leagues, primarily manning shortstop for the John McGraw-managed New York Giants squads, finishing up his career with two seasons as a Phillie.
He went on to manage the Philadelphia squad for four seasons starting in 1922. The Phillies were awful in that era, and no matter how hard he tried, the Fightin’s finished dead last (8th place) in the National League twice, 7th once, and 6th once.
He moved on to become a coach under manager Miller Huggins with the New York Yankees in 1927.
One of the most prolific offenses in baseball history with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the middle of the lineup, “Murderer’s Row,” is another name that ‘27 Yankees squad is known by.
Fletcher was fiery. He may have learned such behavior from his mentor McGraw, a man who one National League umpire remarked, “ate gunpowder every morning and washed it down with warm blood.”
The Yankees may have needed a coach like Fletcher to get them kickstarted. In the spring of 1927, the Bronx Bombers were still licking their wounds, having lost the 1926 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
Babe Ruth was gunned down trying to steal second base for the final out of the Series. Ruth’s motivation for running still remains one of history’s great mysteries.
Journalist Westbrook Pegler visited the Yankees spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Florida prior to the 1927 campaign.
First baseman Lou Gehrig did not look too kindly upon Pegler’s presence. In an exchange between the men at the Yankees hotel, Gehrig called Pegler “Mr. Piggly-Wiggly.”
The comment was retribution against Pegler who called out Gehrig’s clumsy footwork around the bag during the 1926 World Series. “Tanglefoot Gehrig” was the moniker Pegler gave the Iron Horse.
On the day when Pegler visited camp, he saw the Yanks take on the Boston Braves. Babe Ruth was not in the starting lineup, though he did pinch hit.
“Ruth came up to bat for the first time since he sprained a leg muscle in a practice game, he only waved his bat three times and withdrew without even fouling one.”
The real fun began when Pegler witnessed the combat between the Yankees squad and umpire Frank Wilson. Pegler surmised Fletcher “was so giddy over his escape from the Phillies that he misbehaved in the coaching box, to the extent of calling Mr. Wilson a name.”
Wilson promptly tossed Fletcher.
Gehrig, who had heard Fletcher comment upon the visage of the home plate ump, backed up his coach on this one.
The initial sacker relayed to the man in blue his thoughts on the matter.
“Gehrig said he was sure there were uglier men somewhere in the world, although perhaps not in St. Petersburg.”
Sayonara, Iron Horse! Lou joined Fletcher that day in hitting the showers early.
This episode was light work for Wilson, however. For in a 1926 spring training game in St. Pete, according to Pegler, the umpire “established a world record by firing eleven ball players, three members of the Braves and two St. Petersburg policemen out of the ball park.”
It was only one game, and an exhibition at that.
Lou Gehrig went on to be one of the best players in baseball history, of course. Notably, Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995.
Fletcher managed the Yankees for 11 games toward the end of the 1929 season on an interim basis, but starting with that ‘27 season, he didn’t leave the Yankees coaching staff for nearly 20 years.
Fletcher stuck around the Bronx, primarily as the third base coach, until heart problems caused him to retire in 1945.
While there is no official statistic, many around the game surmise that Fletcher cashed more World Series checks than anyone in the history of baseball.
And what was it that Coach Fletcher told Umpire Wilson that got the ump so bent out of shape?
“You look like the brother of a catfish!”
Whatever that means…
And while a good southern BBQ joint will often have catfish on the menu, there are no pescatarian offerings by our friends at Southside Market & Barbecue.
We’re dealing with Authentic Texas Barbecue here.
Beef, pork, and turkey is what you get at Southside. While I abandoned turkey a few years back, the rest of the offerings are nothing short of spectacular.
I am a regular customer, myself, and my favorite Southside snacks are the Sausage Slammers, a bacon-wrapped sausage patty that is filled with a high-melt cheddar-stuffed jalapeño pepper. No joke.
These morsels are delicious and they are going on deep discount come early August.
Never fear, however, the folks at Southside have their famous hot links, the 1882 Sausage Value Pack on sale right now.
12 links for 10 smackeroos.
See for yourself.
https://olearybeef.com/southside/
Brian O’Leary