Looking Back: Nashville's Chuck Meriwether Was An MLB Umpire
Isn't he one of the reasons your favorite baseball team lost?
"I just try to treat people the way I would like to be treated," Meriwether said recently from his Nashville home. "I treat people the way they should be treated, and that is how I live my life everyday."
Meriwether, 55, was born in Nashville and attended Father Ryan for his prep years playing baseball the game he learned to love as a child with his father's influence. He would play baseball at Martin Junior College and Athens State College earning a B.S. in Health and Physical Education.
When he joined the American League, Meriwether became only the fifth African-American umpire in major league history, and the first in the junior circuit since Emmett Ashford retired in 1970. Meriwether was a major league umpire from 1993-2009. He officially retired last season.
"My father was a big baseball fan," said Meriwether. "That is my background and how we spent our vacations. My playing days at Father Ryan was limited. I just enjoyed being part of the team. I played under Boots Donnelly. We had some great athletes when I was over there. Jerry and Cliff Robertson were brothers that went on to play at Vanderbilt.
"Mike Wright, we know about his career as a football and baseball player at Vanderbilt. We had some good athletes on the team. My baseball career in college at Athens State was about the same. I played a little bit more down there as a first baseman. I played with Gary Redus who had an outstanding major league career with the Reds, Pirates and a few other teams. I just enjoyed being around baseball."
Meriwether said that his family would travel during vacation time to baseball cities as Atlanta and St. Louis to watch the major leaguers. He saw the Braves play more than any team and said Atlanta was a team he favored during his youth. Meriwether's life changed when he saw an ad in a sports publication.
"I graduated, which was Martin Junior College in 1976, then I went down to Athens to finish my degree while graduating down there in 1978," said Meriwether. "I saw an ad in The Sporting News about the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School. I really didn't know any major or minor league umpires. I knew that the [Nashville] Sounds had started here in 1978 and that was a big deal.
"I was reading about the umpire school at that time, and still is, in Daytona Beach. It was from January 2nd to February 2nd. I thought it sounded like me. I had been going to school all my life so I thought let's give this a try. I went down there and things just panned out. People always ask me how did I get there, how did I become a major league umpire? I just simply tell them it was the plan God had for me. I was at the right place at the right time."
Wendelstedt was a National League umpire for 33 years, retiring in 1998. His umpiring school continues today. It is open to all that would like to be a baseball umpire and not just a way to become a professional.
"You have to apply for it," said Meriwether. "Nobody is really turned down, to my knowledge. At least they weren't in those days. There were two schools. Joe Brinkman used to have a school and Harry Wendelstedt. Now, Jim Evans, who I worked with for many years, has a school. I would guess that 150 to 200 kids are in each school. Not everybody that goes to the schools are trying to get into it professionally. They try to make themselves better umpires when they go home to their local leagues and associations.
"It is only a month long program. You have to go school to do it professionally. It is like with the players. They have Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A and, of course, the major leagues. You just have to work your way up. When I left umpire school I went to the Midwest League for a couple of years. Then I went to the Eastern League and after a couple of more years I went to the Pacific Coast League.
"Usually about 15-20 kids are accepted from each school to go through another program, which is called PBUC [Professional Baseball Umpire Corp.] now that is a minor league evaluation system. You have to spend a week with them after you make it through the school. They are the one's that send you out into the different minor leagues."
Though the umpire school lasts only one month, an applicant must live in the camp or nearby to be available for the courses and drills. You need to reveal special skills and potential to receive a recommendation to be of the few accepted to the minor leagues, the first step into making it to the big leagues.
"They take you from day one as if you've never umpired before," said Meriwether. "You take tests, go through the rules and drills on the field probably the first couple of weeks. They go over the two-man umpiring system, which is what you usually work in the lower minor leagues.
"Then they go over the three-man system in the last couple of weeks. They try to show you the four-man system, but they don't really worry about that much because that is well down the road. During the last couple of weeks they have college teams that are located in Florida come over to play games and you umpire those games. They just try to teach you everything they can in a four-week period."
After graduating umpire school in 1979, Meriwether was first assigned to the Midwest League (1979) followed by the Eastern League (1980-81), Pacific Coast League (1982-85) and the American Association (1986-92). Meriwether achieved major league umpiring experience while in the minor leagues.
"My first major league game was in 1986," Meriwether said. "I did not have a fulltime contract as a major league umpire, but major league umpires get a vacation during the season. The major leagues may take a minor league umpire to major league spring training. That is the first time they show an interest in you, and you may get a job somewhere down the line. You go to spring training first, that's when if they need you during the season like if somebody gets hurt, goes on vacation or something to that effect, that's when you go up to the big leagues.
"So my first big league game was in 1986. I went to Seattle when the A's were playing the Seattle Mariners. I was in Louisville, KY with my family when I got a call. Marty Springstead [Umpire Supervisor] told me he was going to use me in Seattle for two or three days. That was another very exciting time. That year I probably had about 15 games in the big leagues. In 1987, I had about 30-35 games and 40 more big league games in 1988-89. Then every year after that until I got a fulltime job in the major leagues I was averaging well over 100 games in the big leagues. Now that was because of somebody else's misfortune regardless of what it was.
"After three or four years being in Triple-A, going up and down, I was spending most of my time in the big leagues until I got a fulltime job. That year [1992] Terry Craft and myself got fulltime jobs. Terry Cooney retired and that was the year that Steve Palermo was shot at a restaurant and paralyzed in Dallas and that is how we filled those jobs. It was because of somebody's misfortune."
Meriwether remembers his first confrontation with a major league manager.
"That first time I went to Seattle to umpire Oakland and the Mariners and Dick Williams [Hall of Fame member] was the manager of Seattle," said Meriwether. "It was a three-game series on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I worked second base, first base and I had the plate the third day. There was a play at the plate that was pretty obvious.
"The runner for Seattle came in and the catcher for Oakland tagged him out. He actually blocked the plate so the runner couldn't get to it. It was pretty wide open. Dick Williams came out -- he had that reputation for really getting on umpires. He asked me what happened. That was pretty much it. He was the first manager to argue with me in that first series."
A major league umpire crew consists of four men. They will rotate covering first base, second base, third base, and home plate to call balls and strikes. To an umpire, one position is just as important as the other, including behind the plate. But the home plate umpire has more work.
"I've gotten into as much trouble at third as I have behind the plate," joked Meriwether. "Umpiring home plate will put more wear and tear on you because you are making more decisions. You are up and down and moving. People don't realize that umpires move around quite a bit. If you just watch the umpires where there is any type of fly ball hit into the outfield, one umpire is going out on it, then you've got to rotate and move around. A lot of people don't realize that because they are watching the ball when it is hit.
"I can remember some of those hot days in Kansas City when that temperature on that turf would be 115 to 120 degrees. Sometimes the best place to be was home plate because you were standing on the dirt, which was a lot cooler. If the second base umpires goes out on a fly ball, the third base umpire is going across; the home plate umpire is going out to third and the first base umpire is going to rotate to the plate. I'm with the same crew the entire year."
When an umpire is behind the plate, most likely he is calling balls and strikes against a pitcher throwing in the 90-plus miles per hour. And there are curve balls and breaking pitches, which keep the umpire alert.
"You are watching the ball out of the pitcher's hand," said Meriwether. "The catcher makes a difference the way he catches or presents the ball. You have to watch it from the time he releases it just like the hitter. Just watch the ball where it crosses. You have to watch the height of it. It is easy for us, as fans, to sit in our lounge chairs and watch it on TV. Until you've been back there and put those plate shoes on, it's not as easy as most people think."
Umpiring in the major leagues is an important responsibility. These men can be worn out through the 162-game regular season just as the players. Umpires will make mistakes, but their experience and training place them at the top of their profession.
"One of the first things they teach you in umpiring school is to have good timing," said Meriwether. "If you try to do things too quickly, then you are going to mess up. If you are calling the pitch or a play at first base or on a steal at second or third base, wait until it is over. Just because they put a tag down before a runner completes his slide the ball can still come out of his glove. Don't anticipate and call it too early. There's no hurry. Just wait and see what happens. A lot of times as the summer goes along and you start to wear down the Dog Days of August, you get tired.
"A lot of times you know that you are not having a good plate game or you are calling something too quick. You just have to tell yourself to go back to the basics. One thing they taught you at umpiring school when you are behind the plate just think, 'on the rubber, get set, call it.' And a lot of times you had to go back to those things just to slow yourself down. That is how they used to teach you timing. These guys [players] are very good. By the time they get to the big leagues, they are playing this game exceptionally well. So you have to slow yourself down.
"I will never forget in one of my first years that I was in the big leagues. I was working first base and there was a ball hit in the hole, and I'm thinking there's no way that shortstop is going to get to that ball. He got to that ball and made it look easy. He threw over to first and I'm just kind of lagging because I didn't think he was going to make a play. And fortunately enough for me it was such a wide-open play because he had a strong arm. I waited until the play was over."
Meriwether umpired in seven Division Series (1998, 99, 2000, 01, 02, 04 and 07), the 2003 National League Championship Series, the 2006 American Championship Series, the All-Star Game (1996, 2002), and two World Series (2004, 2007).
"It is quite an honor to be asked to umpire in the postseason and the All-Star game," Meriwether said. "It's just like what the players work for. That is the umpire's ultimate goal too, is to work playoffs, All-Star games, and the World Series. We have supervisors that watch the games and evaluate the umpires. They send in reports on the umpires. All the supervisors and all the executives in the Commissioner's Office get together and that's how you are selected for the playoffs and World Series.
Meriwether was an umpire in the 2004 World Series with Boston playing the Cardinals. It was the 100th World Series in Major League history as the Red Sox swept St. Louis in four games. That was Boston's first World Series victory since 1918 to break the "Curse of the Bambino."
In 2007, Meriwether was again in the Fall Classic with the Red Sox again victorious in a four-game sweep over Colorado.
"It is a very exciting time for my family, friends and me," Meriwether said about being an umpire in the World Series. "There is one thing I can remember about my first one between St. Louis and Boston. We were walking out on the field with Brian Gorman who was a major league umpire working that World Series.
"We were in Fenway Park. During the summer months they have that big scoreboard with the all the teams, innings and scores. We were at home plate taking the lineups and when the managers left Brian said to us all, 'we made it to the World Series because that board is completely clear. We are the only baseball game being played tonight.' We knew we had made it to the ultimate goal to umpire in the World Series."
Being an umpire for 18 years, Meriwether could not avoid being a part of baseball history. He was an umpire in two perfect games. On July 18, 1999, the Yankees' David Cone tossed the gem in a 6-0 win over Montreal with Meriwether as the third base umpire. The game was played in Yankee Stadium on "Yogi Berra Day." And on July 23, 2009, Meriwether was the second base umpire when White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle won a perfect game over Tampa Bay, 5-0.
"I can remember both of them," said Meriwether. "In Buehrle's no-hitter, in about the fifth inning I just said to myself, 'I haven't positioned myself in the infield for a steal all day.' I looked back at the scoreboard and realized he had not given up a hit. I started putting it together and that's when the butterflies came back. You want to be a part of that and just hope things go well. There was one ball hit out to the center fielder where he had to make a speculator catch to preserve the perfect game for Buehrle. That was my call and I was glad there was no controversy.
"As an umpire you just want to go out, do your job, and not affect the outcome of a game. You just try to get through it as quietly as you can. I tell people all the time that nine times out of 10 officials are not the one's who decides who wins or loses the game. If you go back, look at the stats at the number of men you left on base or free throws you missed, the number of times you didn't score when you were in the red zone throughout the game. If you do your job, the officials are not going to cause you to win or lose."
For decades the National League would hire their own umpires, as did the American League. In 2000, they combined the umpires and put them together, just like the NFL, NBA, and NFL. Meriwether began his major league career in the American League before they were combined. Now they are all major league umpires.
Meriwether participated in two All-Star games. In 1996, the National League defeated the American League 6-0 in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium. And in 2002, Meriwether was an umpire when the American and National Leagues were tied 7-7 after 11 innings in Milwaukee's Miller Park.
That game was called when each team ran out of players. That was only the second Mid Summer Classic to be tied. The first was in 1961 when two All-Star games were played in one season. Meriwether was also the third base umpire in the 2007 single-game NL wild-card playoff won by Colorado over the Padres in extra innings, 9-8.
So when an umpire and a player or manager gets into a heated argument, when is time for Meriwether to give them an early shower?
"You have to have a feel for the game," said Meriwether. "You hear them talking on TV, 'man he ejected him mighty quick. What could he have said to the umpire?' They don't realize that maybe he's been yelling at you from the dugout the whole game or two or three innings ago. Or during a commercial something you didn't see might have happened. I was the kind of umpire that was pretty laid back personally. I listened to what a person had to say. It was different if they got personal.
"If they put 'You' in front of something that they shouldn't say, I will toss them. Just because he is standing there cursing doesn't bother me. But if he puts 'You' in front of a curse word, then you have a problem. Usually it is something that they say to me. If he has been yelling at me on different times throughout the game or arguing with me on balls and strikes, which you are not supposed to do. You have to know the flow and know what is going on with the feel of the game. My philosophy was to listen to what he has to say, and while he is talking, I'm thinking about what I'm going to say to him.
"I wasn't around when Billy Martin and Earl Weaver were managing. They went at umpires. For the most part, when I got in the game, guys would let you work. They expected from you what they expected from their players. Be prepared, give 100 percent, and just go. People talk about Bobby Cox getting ejected and leading the major leagues. Once Bobby got between the two lines, he became competitive. Atlanta was a place, while living in Nashville, my family traveled to a lot especially when my boys were younger.
"To get to our dressing room, we used to pass the Braves dressing room. Anytime I came through and Bobby was standing and talking to other people, he would make a point to stop and talk to my wife and my boys to ask, 'what has your dad been doing with you during the day?' He would talk about certain restaurants. He was always kind to my family."
The one thing that an umpire cannot avoid at any level of organized baseball is the constant harassment by the fans in the stands. Umpires have been called everything imaginable. Umpires try to block that part of the game from their minds.
"You try to listen for the unique stuff," said Meriwether. "You hear all the time, 'where are your glasses? Where's your seeing-eye dog?' That's just part of it. Fans are going to be fans. Fans will start yelling at you at the start of spring training when they haven't seen you all winter. You don't let it bother you. I was in a city where this lady was yelling and screaming at me, 'Meriwether, why don't you retire? I thought you were going to retire this year, blah, blah, blah.'
"She said, 'you know if I were married to you, I would put poison in your food every night.' Her husband was kind of sitting there not saying much, just kind of looking. About the sixth or seventh inning I turned to her and said, 'you know what lady; if you did, I'd eat it.' Her husband looked at me like, 'yeah, uh, you don't know what I'm going through.'"
This is the question that every baseball fan wants to know. Are umpires required to have their eyes checked?
"I think it is a good idea to have your eyes checked on a regular basis whether you are an umpire or not," Meriwether said. "We have to take a physical every year. We have to go to Arizona for three or four days of meetings. Part of our physical is having an eye doctor check our eyes. We have eye exams every year."
Umpires are human and will make mistakes. With television replay, today's umpires are scrutinized more than ever. Their mistakes cannot be hidden. This causes frustrations for both the fans and the umpires.
"Usually if you miss a play, you know it right then," said Meriwether. "You have a pretty good idea. You just have to know that it is part of the game. It is going to happen. Mistakes are going to be made. You look at it on film and ask, 'what did I do wrong? Did I call it too quick? Was I too close? Was I too far away? Could I have gotten a better angle?'
"You just try not to let it happen again or too many more times. Today, everything is on TV with instant replay. When I was growing up, my dad and I would get so excited about watching the Saturday game of the week. That was all you had before cable. Now there are two or three games on each day. You know when you miss things."
Sometimes there can be moments to lighten up a baseball game with unexpected humor and interruptions.
"As an umpire, I've probably heard the National Anthem countless times," said Meriwether. "Even when I first went into the major leagues, the umpires would stand on the field before the Anthem or you would hear the person that was going to practice it standing right outside our door. So I heard the National Anthem at every game all those years. I still get that same excitement when I hear that song. We were in Boston in Fenway Park where you have the Green Monster [left field wall] with the two speakers sitting on top of the wall.
"As umpires, we were standing at home plate and they introduced this young man who was going to sing the National Anthem. He was all dressed up, excited and he had a beautiful voice. He started off, 'Oh say can you see.' And when he said, 'by' that 'Oh say can you see' came off that Green Monster and that speaker came right back at him and he just sang, 'and the home of the brave.' And the place went nuts. His eyes were big and he bowed. Everybody was clapping for him.
"You had people running on the field all the time. Somebody ran on the field in Cincinnati near the Ohio and Kentucky line. This guy got away from the police jumped over the center field wall and ran out of the stadium. I asked the officer the next day if they caught him. He said when the guy got out of the stadium he crossed into Kentucky, which was out of their jurisdiction, and they couldn't chase him anymore. I was in Baltimore working second base and just out of the corner of my eye I saw something kind of coming at me. I kind of jumped. This guy had jumped out of the stands and was running on the field and slid head first into second base. I looked down at the guy. The only thing he had on were a pair of tennis shoes. Just butt naked."
Meriwether's son, Chris, recently graduated from Vanderbilt University and was a walk-on guard for the varsity basketball team. He also attended Father Ryan. Earlier this season, Meriwether was named by Joe Torre (MLB's Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations) as an Umpire Supervisor. Meriwether travels to Memphis, Louisville, Indianapolis, and the Atlanta area to evaluate and report on the minor league umpires. He also reports on umpires from Nashville's Herschel Greer Stadium.
Meriwether was asked to look back on his baseball career as an umpire and talk about his most cherished accomplishment that comes with pride.
"Just being able to make it," Meriwether said. "There are so few of us blessed to make it. I made it to two All-Star games and worked two World Series. There are only 68 major league umpires and there is not much of a turnover. It's almost like a U.S. Supreme Court Judge job.
"I retired this past year. They had to fill my job. Jerry Crawford, Rick Reed, and Mike Reilly also retired. I was the umpire with the least amount of time in the big leagues. I had 20 years. Those guys had 30 and 35 years. There were probably a lot of good umpires that were passed over that could umpire in the big leagues. If there are no openings, there is nothing you can do about it.
"I was blessed to have my family come to my games and participate. I thank God for me going to so many different cities and for watching over and protecting me was a blessing. I had a good run at it. Just being a lover of the game, being a part of it. Being able to take care of my family in different ways was fulfilling. I thank God for letting me be apart of it."
Traughber's Tidbit: Charlie Moran was also a Nashville-born umpire. He was born in 1879 and umpired in the National League for 23 seasons. Moran would umpire in four World Series (1927, 1929, 1933 and 1938). Moran made baseball history in 1933 when he ejected one of the first players in a World Series game.
Washington outfielder, Heinie Manush, was called out during a play in Game Four against the New York Giants. Manush pulled on Moran's bow tie, which was held in place by an elastic band, and let it snap back. He got tossed. Moran was famous for the saying, "it may look foul and it may look fair, but it ain't nothing until I call it!"
Moran died in 1949 on his farm in Horse Cave, Kentucky. He lived by the philosophy, "if you umpire a game without calling attention to yourself, you've had a good day. The public never notices you until it thinks you've call one wrong."
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