CPA MLEBRECHTMEDIA PTE LTEDIA (MD/A L A MUD); GETT Y Y STOCIMKAGE PHOTO (CUJU); S (SHIRT);
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMBETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES (AE/AP (RAY ); SHFORD) NEIL LEIFER (UMP CREW);1921
Rubbing a special
mud on baseballs
becomes the duty of
the umpires. (Mud
is still used but is
now rubbed on by
equipment managers.)R
ef
s
Sp
ea
kO
ffi
ci
al(^) H
is
to
ry
Cl
os
e
C
al
ls
B
ur
ni
ng
(^) Q
s
Q
ui
z
1581
English educator
Richard Mulcaster
explains the benefit
of a soccer referee
for school games
in a book on
educating children.
1952
MLB adopts the
four-man umpiring
crew system for
regular-season
games, five years
after first using a
six-man crew for
the World Series.
1966
After 2 5 years as
an umpire—including
15 years in the
minors—Emmett
Ashford becomes
MLB’s first Black ump
when he joins the
American League.
1966
Shorty Ray, who
served as NFL
supervisor of
officials and rewrote
the rule book, enters
the Hall of Fame.
1921
Football ref Lloyd Olds
invents the striped
shirt, supposedly
after a quarterback
circa 220
Handbooks for
the Chinese game
Cuju—a precursor
to soccer—suggest
the presence of
an official.
R
E
F
S
THE
REFS