Dodgers to honor Bob Motley, the only surviving Negro Leagues umpire, before tonight’s game
The Dodgers will honor umpire Bob Motley before Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. What’s the big deal about that, you say? Motley, 94, is the only surviving umpire from the Negro Leagues.
Motley umpired in the Negro American League from 1947 through 1958. In his book, “Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants and Stars: Umpiring in the Negro Leagues and Beyond,” Motley recalls the following story:
“I think I’ve blocked out the exact scenario that led up to the particular incident, but it’s the only time I was actually afraid of the fans. All I remember is that, on the last out of the game, fifteen thousand [Kansas City] Monarchs fans decided to blame Bob Motley for the team’s loss. All of a sudden a sea of Coca-Cola bottles started sailing past my head like bazookas being fired from Uzis. Bottles came out of the stands like it was raining. A couple actually hit me and some of the other players who didn’t have a chance to run off to the safety of their dugouts, thankfully without breaking and injuring any of us. As we stood around the field stunned at what was happening, Buck O’Neil and Oscar Charleston ran from their respective dugouts and told me to start walking toward second base, where it was harder for the bottles to reach. The bottles kept coming by the dozens from all directions, and within minutes the field was littered with them! Fearing an out-and-out riot, Buck and Charleston escorted me all the way to the center-field wall and we made an escape. How the three of us scaled that wall and they got me to safety is still a mystery to me, but we did.
“True to the spirit of Negro League competition, the next week all was forgiven and everybody acted as if nothing had ever happened.”
Twitter: @latimeshouston
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