*20
/            "A MASTER AT HIS TRADE"
/  THE BALLPLAYERS ALWAYS SAID THAT BILL MCGOWAN WAS THE
/BEST UMPIRE IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE. NO HIGHER PRAISE EVER
/COULD BE GIVEN AN UMPIRE, AND PERHAPS THAT CAN SERVE AS
/MCGOWAN"S EPITAPH. HE"D HAVE LIKED IT THAT WAY BECAUSE HE
/WAS AS DEVOTED TO HIS PROFESSION AS BILL KLEM HAD BEEN.
/THE AMERICAN LEAGUE HAD RETIRED THE AILING MCGOWAN
/EARLIER IN THE WEEK ON A HANDSOME PENSION. BUT HE DIED
/YESTERDAY BEFORE HE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY IT.
/  THE PROUDEST MOMENT OF HIS LIFE WAS IN 1948 WHEN THE
/AMERICAN LEAGUE VIRTUALLY ADMITTED THAT HE WAS ITS BEST
/ARBITER. ONCE UPON A TIME WORLD SERIES ASSIGNMENTS WERE
/THE SUPREME ACCOLADE, BUT THEY ARE ON A ROTATING BASIS
/NOW AND THEREFORE MEANINGLESS. HOWEVER, THE JUNIOR
/CIRCUIT HAD THE FIRST AND ONLY PLAY-OFF IN ITS HISTORY
/IN 1948 WHEN THE INDIANS AND RED SOX TIED FOR THE CHAMP-
/IONSHIP. IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT ONLY THE BEST OF THE MEN
/IN BLUE HANDLE THAT GAME. SIGNIFICANT INDEED WAS THE FACT
/THAT BILL MCGOWAN WAS NAMED UMPIRE-IN-CHIEF.
/  BILL WAS ALWAYS AN EAGER BEAVER, A HUSTLER. AND HIS
/ENTHUSIASM NEVER WANED DURING HIS THIRTY SEASONS IN THE
/BIG LEAGUES. BUT THAT"S WHY HE WAS SO GOOD, THOUGH HIS
/OVERENTHUSIASM TWICE DREW HIM SUSPENSIONS, A RARITY IN
/ITSELF. EVEN THEN, THE BALLPLAYERS NEVER SAID GRUMPILY
/"SERVED HIM RIGHT." INSTEAD THEY SAID SOFTLY "TOO BAD
/ABOUT WILLIE, ISN^T IT?"
/  WHEN MCGOWAN ENTERED THE AMERICAN LEAGUE IN 1924, HE
/EVEN BROUGHT HIS JOB INTO HIS HOTEL ROOM WITH HIM, SO
/UNCEASING WERE HIS EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIMSELF. SOON HE
/HAD HIS ROOMIE, ROY VAN GRAFLAN, DOING THE SAME THING.
/  "Y^RE OUT!" BILL WOULD BELLOW, JERKING HIS THUMB PER-
/EMPTORILY IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR. THEN HE"D TRY IT AGAIN
/WITH A DIFFERENT INFLECTION AND A DIFFERENT GESTURE, EX-
/PERIMENTING WITH HIS TECHNIQUES. AND PRETTY SOON VAN
/GRAFLAN WAS DOING THE SAME THING.
/  "Y^RE OUT!" VAN WOULD SCREAM, AS THE TWO OF THEM PRAC-
/TICED FOR HOURS ON END. FINALLY A BOOMING VOICE CAME
/ECHOING UP FROM THE HOTEL COURTYARD.
/  "SHUT UP!" HOWLED A COMPLAINING NONSLEEPER. "HEY, DON^T
/YOU GUYS EVER CALL ANYONE SAFE?"
/  IT ALSO WAS IN A HOTEL THAT MCGOWAN HAD ONE OF THE MOST
/SOUL-SHATTERING EXPERIENCES OF HIS CAREER. IT HAPPENED
/WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG AND GREEN UMPIRE. HE"D NOTICED HOW
/WELL DRESSED HIS FELLOW ARBITERS WERE AND ASKED FOR AN
/EXPLANATION. AFTER ALL, UMPIRICAL SALARIES WERE
/STRINGENTLY MODEST IN THOSE DAYS.
/  "IT^S EASY," ONE OF THEM SAID. "WE LEAD LONELY LIVES,
/APART FROM THE BALLPLAYERS. BUT WE"RE CONSTANTLY COMING
/INTO CONTACT WITH TRAVELING SALESMEN. SO JUST BUTTER UP
/TO A FEW OF THEM, ENTERTAIN THEM A BIT, AND YOU"LL BE
/ABLE TO GET SHIRTS, SUITS, SHOES, AND EVERYTHING YOU NEED
/AT WHOLESALE PRICES. SOMETIMES THEY"LL EVEN GIVE YOU
/SAMPLES FOR FREE."
/  MCGOWAN CASED THE LOBBY AND PICKED ON A LIKELY PROS-
/PECT. HE STRUCK UP A CONVERSATION WITH HIM, LEARNED THAT
/HE WAS A SALESMAN, AND BUTTERED HIM UP. THE STRANGER
/COULDN"T PICK UP A TAB. MCGOWAN WINED AND DINED HIM,
/CAREFULLY AVOIDING EVEN A HINT OF THE NEFARIOUS PURPOSE
/BEHIND HIS HOSPITALITY.
/ "IT^S BEEN A WONDERFUL EVENING, BILL," SAID THE STRANGER
/AS THEY PARTED.
/ "BY THE WAY," SAID BILL, "YOU NEVER MENTIONED WHAT FIRM
/YOU^RE TRAVELING FOR. WHICH ONE IS IT?"
/ "THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY," SAID THE STRANGER.
/  MCGOWAN"S TWO SUSPENSIONS DESERVE MENTION. THE FIRST
/WAS THE OUTCOME OF AN INCIDENT AT HOME PLATE IN A GAME
/BETWEEN THE SENATORS AND INDIANS AT WASHINGTON. JOE
/PAPPARELLA RULED THAT EDDIE STEWART WAS OUT AT HOME WITH
/THE WINNING RUN, AND THE WASHINGTON PLAYERS CAME STORMING
/OUT OF THE DUGOUT IN VIOLENT PROTEST.
/  TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, THE CALL WAS NONE OF MCGOWAN"S
/BUSINESS. BUT PAPPARELLA WAS A NEW MAN ON THE JOB, AND
/BILL RUSHED TO HIS RESCUE. BUT IN TAKING THE HEAT OFF HIS
/FELLOW WORKER, HE SET HIMSELF ABLAZE. WORDS WERE SPOKEN
/THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SPOKEN. SO MCGOWAN WAS SUS-
/PENDED TO COOL OFF. BUT THAT WAS WHY HE GOT EVEN MORE
/THAN THE NORMAL SATISFACTION OUT OF BEING NAMED UMPIRE-IN
/-CHIEF A FEW MONTHS LATER IN THE PLAY-OFF GAME. IT WAS A
/VINDICATION OF SORTS.
/  THE OTHER SUSPENSION RESULTED PRIMARILY FROM A RUN-IN
/WITH PLAYERS AND THEN ERUPTED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION,
/TOWARD THE PRESS BOX. IT WAS A TIGER-BROWN GAME IN
/ST. LOUIS, AND MCGOWAN THOUGHT THE TIGERS WERE BEING UN-
/NECESAARILY ROUGH IN THEIR RIDING OF SATCHELL PAIGE. HE
/FURIOUSLY ORDERED THEM TO STOP AND CLEARED OFF PART OF
/THE DETROIT BENCH. THE BASEBALL WRITERS ASKED FOR DETAILS
/OF THE STILL-SEETHING MCGOWAN.
/  "TELL ^EM I^LL WRITE A LETTER," SNAPPED HIS NIBS.
/  "WE DIDN^T KNOW YOU COULD WRITE," WAS THE UNNECESSARILY
/RUDE MESSAGE HE RECEIVED IN RETURN.
/  "IF YOU GUYS COULD WRITE, YOU^D BE IN NEW YORK," WAS
/MCGOWAN^S FINAL INSULT. THE PRESS-BOX TENANTS TOOK
/UMBRAGE AND FILED FORMAL PROTEST WITH PRESIDENT WILL
/HARRDIDGE OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE. MCGOWAN WAS SUSPENDED.
/  FOR ALL OF THAT, THOUGH, HE WAS A MIGHTY FINE UMPIRE.
/THE FELLOWS WHO"LL MISS HIM MOST WILL BE THE BALLPLAYERS
/WHO ALWAYS AFFECTIONATELY CALLED HIM "WILLIE."