Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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What were the credentials of Billy Evans that led to his hiring? Certainly, in his twenty-two years as an American League umpire he had seen every aspect of the game. Evans was born in Chicago on February 10, 1884. The family moved to Youngstown, Ohio, when Billy was a small child. He spent two years at Cornell University, where he played freshman baseball. The death of his father caused Evans to leave college and return to Youngstown. He took a job as a sportswriter for the Youngstown Vindicator, covering local baseball and other sports. It was there that fate intervened for young Mr. Evans. On a whim, he was asked to umpire a local baseball game. He was astounded to learn his pay was fifteen dollars for the game, which equaled his weekly salary at the Vindicator. Soon he was umpiring Class C baseball in addition to his reporter’s job. While working a game between local rivals Niles and Youngstown, Evans made a late strike-three call against a Niles hitter. The partisan crowd stormed the field, prepared to give the young umpire a complete thrashing. Evans kept his cool and managed to survive the game without a scratch. In the stands was former Cleveland Spider star Jimmy McAleer, who admired the young man for his courage. Now the manager of the St. Louis Browns, McAleer convinced American League president Ban Johnson to hire Evans. At age twenty-two, Billy Evans became the youngest umpire in the Major Leagues.