|
History |
The Western New York Umpires' Association was organized by the late Thomas
Mercer in 1913. Mr. Mercer served as president and chief of umpires until his
passing in 1941. A monument was erected in 1941 in
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Cornelius Reardon |
(1941-1946) |
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Gerald Powers |
(1947-1952) |
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John Taylor |
(1953-1955) |
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Nicholas Backes |
(1956) |
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Raymond Bamberg |
(1957-1959) |
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Jerry Stockman |
(1960-1961) |
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Louis Depoe |
(1962) |
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Edward Jerge |
(1963-1976) |
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Joseph Harrington |
(1976-1980) |
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W. Gary Neunder |
(1981- present) |
Click
on the plaque for more detail on the marker.
One of the highest honors the Western New York Umpires bestows on a member is the privilege of lifetime membership. The following are Life Members of the Western New York Umpires Association:
Dick Bartoszek*
Mike Bordonaro*
Joe Bula*
Matt Colpoys*
Tom Corcoran*
Ed Foley*
Joe Harrington
Ed Jerge*
Don Kane
Jim Leary
Al Leuthe*
Vince McNamara*
Gerry Powers
Jerry Stockman
Bob Weber*
(* Deceased)
About Thomas Mercer:
Tom Mercer, Jr., Dies Suddenly
Buffalo Courier-Express, Monday, March 31, 1941, page 17
Former Champion Runner, Muny League Figure and Boss of Umpires Passes
Thomas P. Mercer, Jr., the man who made
Father a Renowned Athlete
Mr. Mercer, Sr., who died in 1930 in
Tom’s first race was at Spring Abbey, in the vicinity of the present
junction of Main and
Was District Mile Champion
Mercer was district mile and cross-country champion in 1890, and waged many
stirring duels with Tommy Coneff and Tom Donnelly, who will be remembered by
the old guard of track fans. August 31, 1890, he won the one, two, and
five-mile races from scratch in the B. A. C. meet in Olympic Park. With
one day’s rest, he came back to take five prizes in the Labor Day meet in
Retiring from athletic competition, Mercer devoted his free time from duties as machine shop superintendent at the Worthington Pump Corporation to the managerial side of sports. He handled the world champion German basketball team for four years; promoted 70 meets for the 65th Regiment, both in the Broadway Arsenal and at the armory, and organized the Spaldings, one of the best semipro baseball teams ever to step onto a diamond.
A Spalding contract in one of Tom’s voluminous scrapbooks shows such names as Charley Brown, Al Frantz, Bill Harkins, George Needham, G. W. Reck, Adam Bruckman, A. Klenk, Rupert Mercer and Joe Sibbick. The team seldom dropped more than two games in any season.
Helped Organize Muny League
What proved the most significant step in Mercer’s 57-year athletic career proved to be the formation of the Muny Association, however. Together with John E. Mulroy, Albert C. Febrey, Louis J. Bolt, Matthew W. Jordan , Joseph F. Collins and Leo Coston, he put local amateur baseball on its feet.
Teams had been forced to take up collections to buy baseballs, and outbursts of rowdyism were not infrequent. Mercer importuned the city fathers to buy balls and to pay capable umpires. He trained these umpires, and backed their decisions to the hilt. After a few players had been barred for life for striking officials, the rough boys realized that they no longer had the upper hand.
The four-umpire system, now used in World Series play, was employed by
Mercer for the Columbia-Busti Roman playoff series at
Muny baseball grew in leaps and bounds, 126 teams being entered one year. Meanwhile, Mercer was placed in charge of American Legion, suburban, twilight and midget baseball, so that he was handling umpire assignments and drawing schedules for hundreds of teams each week. He handled these arduous tasks as they came, with a smile on his ruddy face and an appetite for work.
Spent Winters in
Tom and his wife had spent four recent winters in
At 1:40 o’clock yesterday afternoon he arose from the luncheon table
and made his way upstairs. There he complained of feeling faint, and
collapsed in the arms of his daughter, Mary, a nurse who was visiting here on
her way from
Umpires as Bearers
Other survivors are his wife, Mrs. Gertrude Moynihan Mercer; one son, Dr.
John T. mercer of East Aurora; another daughter, Mary; four brothers, Alfred,
Everett, Rupert and Harold, and one sister,
Tom’s boys in blue—his umpires—will be pallbearers at
services at 9 o’clock Wednesday morning tin
[Side bar with photograph:]
Dies at 71
Tom Mercer, Jr.
Prominent in
[side bar:]
Tonight’s Muny Baseball Meeting Is Called Off
Out of respect to the memory of Tom Mercer, Jr., tonight’s meeting of the Municipal Baseball Association has been post-poned, it was announced last night by Edward Trantor, director of recreation.
T. P. Mercer Dies,
Long an Exponent of Amateur Sports
Buffalo Evening News, Monday, March 31, 1941, page 13
His Baseball Umpire Idea was Adopted for Use in World Series
One of the true champions of amateur baseball in the nation,
Thomas Peter Mercer, Jr., 71-year old chief and organizer of the world’s
largest staff of umpires, died suddenly Sunday afternoon in his home,
Death came quickly to the beloved “fighter” who stood so firmly behind every decision given by the “men in blue” he trained to officiate at baseball games in the district. The family of which he was proud—the children whose success in medicine was his greatest delight—were at his side when he succumbed.
The family was seated at the luncheon table. The repast finished, Tom—everyone called him that—chatted for a while, told again a story or two of the sports he knew in yesteryear, then begged his leave from the table. He went upstairs.
Family Rushes to Side
The family heard him fall, rushed to his side, was there when he died, the victim of a heart attack.
The funeral will be held Wednesday morning at 8
o’clock in the family residence and at 9 o’clock in
When he was a 2-year old in his native England—he was
born in Lancastershire on Jan. 28, 1870—his parents, Thomas and Martha
Dawson Mercer, were warned to take the frail Tommy Jr. “out of
England’s damp climate” if he was to live. That his parents did, packing up their
family of 11 and heading for the
Tommy often used to joke about how he “outguessed those English doctors.”
Tom Showed Them
“They told me I had bad lungs,” Tom said, “but I sure showed them. My lungs couldn’t have been so bad if I was able to be a cross-country racer and distance runner.”
His greatest joy was to reminisce about his sports career—about the time he won his first race at Spring Abbey (now the vicinity of Main and Laurel Streets) on May 24, 1885; about the time he ran and won three races in the old First Ward, then ran all the way out to the old Olympic Park and won a mile race there.
“That was the time the starters in the mile were all lined up to start, Tom recalled. “They saw me running toward them and held up the race until I got to the starting post. I won that race, too.”
There were other feats of running he liked to talk about, too.
Races Are Recalled
There was the 1890 campaign when he won the district cross-country and distance championship in one of his many stirring duels with Tommy Coneff and Tom Donnelly; there was the day of Aug. 31, 1890, when he won 1, 2 and 5-mile races from scratch in a meet sponsored by the Buffalo Athletic Club in Olympic Park (he came back a day later to take five prizes in the Labor Day meet in Germania Park, now Riverside).
And Tommy never could forget the time he won a mile hurdle
race—“had to jump 26 3-foot hurdles”—and he and his brother
Rupert used to clean up on “sack” racing events. Foot racing was inbred in the Mercer
boys, Rupert and Tom—for their dad, Thomas Sr., won many prizes in
Tom’s interest in track carried over to his later years, and after he retired from competition he took an active part in the promotion of the famed indoor games at the old 65th Regiment Armory, the 174th Regiment Armory, and in the old Broadway Arsenal.
His Record Stands
But there never was a runner he brought here whose record out-shone that of the promoter. Tommy never finished worse than 1-2-3 in all his years of racing against the best in the nation.
A stickler for detail, Tommy stepped out of a job as a
In what time he could spare from his wok, he organized a Worthington Pump baseball league, drew up all the schedules, and still had time to take an active part in the management of the famed German Orioles basketball team for four years and so organize the Spalding semi-pro baseball team, one that lost not more than two games in any season.
Turns to Baseball
From the day he formed the Spaldings his heart turned almost
exclusively to baseball. Tom, with
John E. Mulroy, Albert C. Febrey, Louis J. Bolt, Matthew W. Jordan, Joseph F.
Collins and Leo Coston, put amateur baseball on its feet in
The Municipal Baseball Association will remain a monument to his endeavors. He fought for the right to play in the city parks and won his battle in 1914. Then he pressed the city into buying baseballs and hiring umpires to handle the games.
These umpires were his pride. He trained them; backed them in every decision; and he also told them when they were wrong. Mr. Mercer devoted his life to absolute fairness; his umpires had to operate that way or lose their jobs.
Model for Nation
That curbed any rowdyism in amateur games; Tom’s umpires were absolute bosses of the games. And the organization he was a prime mover in founding became the model for the nation.
In 1914 he established a four-umpire system for a playoff series between the Columbia and Busti Roman teams at Oakdale Park and that system worked out so well it since has been adopted by the major leagues for the World Series games.
Tom drafted the schedules for all the teams in the Muny Leagues—boasted of the year his circuit had 126 teams—and for the last 13 years drew up the complete playing charts for the Buffalo Evening News Midget, American Legion and various suburban leagues in addition to many of the city’s twilight loops.
Interested in Hockey
Mr. and Mrs. Mercer spent the last four Winters in
Tom was educated in St. Patrick’s Parochial School and in Public School 31. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Gertrude Moynihan Mercer; one son, Dr. John T. Mercer of East Aurora; two daughters, Mary, a registered nurse in whose arms he died, and Florence; a sister, Pearl, and four brothers, Alfred, Everett, Rupert, and Harold.
Sports Comment, by
Bob Stedler,
Buffalo Evening News, Monday, March 31, 1941, page 19
It is our very sad duty to pass on to the readers of this column the unpleasant news of the death of a close and highly respected friend and companion.
When Almighty God in his infinite wisdom decreed that Tom mercer Jr. conclude his long stewardship on this earth Sunday afternoon he removed from the field of athletics one who did more to maintain honesty and integrity in competition than any other man in the entire history of Buffalo and Western New York.
Tom, as we all referred to him and always shall, was deeply devoted to the cause of clean sports. To him the high quality of good sportsmanship was a religion and he was forever preaching its gospel to young and old alike. Unselfish in his efforts, he made many personal sacrifices in order that others might develop into good athletes and achieve success in their chosen fields.
While his good work was known to thousands in this area it is unfortunate that more were not familiar with his truly great influence for good among so many over a long period of years. He was the very soul of honor and worked untiringly and unceasingly to transmit to others those same characteristics, particularly in the field of sports.
Baseball was his favorite although at one time he became internationally famous in the running field. His father before him was a successful track athlete and old time residents recall him and the Mercer boys, his several sons, as dominating the field of running not only in this section but in many other states. Tommy was the best of the boys and made many records which stood for years after his retirement.
But, as we have said, Tom’s favorite sport was baseball. His field was that of the amateurs and, beginning with the organization of the Buffalo Municipal Baseball Association, he became its spearhead.
That was back in 1913 when visitors to the city parks were
confronted with signs reading “Keep off the Grass” and games on the
Meadow were prohibited. Tom was one
of the leaders in the campaign to permit the use of
He continued an official of the Municipal Baseball Association from the time of its organization until his death. He drafted every schedule for Municipal League teams during that long period. He also organized the Western New York Umpires Association now composed of more than 150 members. He was a big factor in the formation of the Evening News Suburban, the Erie County American Legion Junior and the Evening News Midget Baseball Leagues.
For the past 25 years he devoted his entire time to baseball and basketball, ever willing to impart the benefit of his knowledge and long experience to those who sought it. His greatest interest was in the boy of tender years and long after many of us who are acquainted with his achievements are gone the boy of today and yesteryear will recall the grand service he rendered to them.
It was our good fortune to have been very closely associated with him for the past 30 years, to have worked with him side by side, day by day. We, too, were inspired by his enthusiasm. A more loyal and conscientious co-worker never was had by any man. We extend to his bereaved wife and family our most sincere sympathy
Tommy Mercer’s last official act was writing the notice for the Muny Baseball meeting scheduled for tonight. His copy for the session reached our desk this morning. The board of directors however have, in respect to him, postponed the meeting until next Monday.
Before and After, by
Billy Kelly
Buffalo Courier-Express, Tuesday, April 1, 1941, page 18
No man associated with sports in
Before and After, by
Billy Kelly
Buffalo Courier-Express, Wednesday, April 2, 1941, page 17
Many tributes to Tom Mercer, Jr., have been received asking
this column to print same. They
include offerings from Joe Sanders, members of the Recreation department and
just friends and admirers of the character, personality and humanness of the
deceased Father of Amateur Baseball in
Veteran Umpires Bury
Their Chief, Thomas P. Mercer
Buffalo Evening News, Wednesday, April 2, 1941, page 33
Friends of Pioneer in W. N. Y. Sports Events Attend Services
Six members of the Western New York Umpires’ Association—a group of men he united into the largest and most efficient organization of its kind in the world—carried out their last “assignments” for their chief, Thomas P. Mercer, Jr., this morning.
They were bearers at his funeral,
for which the Rev. William M. Martin celebrated a solemn high requiem mass in
Burial was in
The honorary bearers, men with whom Mr. Mercer has been associated for years, were City Court Judge Patrick J. Keeler, Director of Recreation Edward C. Tranter, Louis J. Bolt of the Parks Department; James J. Collins, the old Boston Red Sox third baseman; Promoter Charles J. Murray.
Sports Editors Robert C. Stedler of the News and William J. Kelley of the Courier-Express; Frank F. Cannon, former commissioner of parks; George Needham, boxing judge and former baseball player; Joseph A. Saunders, Richard J. McCabe and Gerhard J. Simon of the Municipal League.
Thomas A. Bowman, Electric Twilight League veteran; Louis J. Giffels of the Buffalo Hockey Club; Sports Writers Jack Laing and Gene Korzelius and Cornelius J. Kennedy, known just as “Ken” wherever he takes photographs for the News.
Mr. Mercer’s old friends nearly filled the church. Among them were: Chester C. Reed, American Legion baseball director; Leo Pacanowski, E. Bart Gilbert, Joseph Lonca and Edward J. Lampshire of the umpires’ staff; Frank H. Denney and Frank A. Gawronski of the Parks Department; John E. Brown, member of the old Maywood baseball team on which Mr. Mercer’s son, John T., played; and John J. Ryan, prominent in the City Baseball League of two-score years ago.
Sports Comment, by Bob Stedler
Buffalo Evening News, Saturday,
April 5, 1941, page 9
Umpires of the Western New York Association founded, nursed, nourished and maintained by the late Tom Mercer, will meet tomorrow afternoon to select his successor as chief. They’ll find it difficult to replace the most unselfish leader any organization ever had.
Sports Comment, by Bob Stedler
Buffalo Evening News, Monday,
April 7, 1941, page 21
Complete harmony prevailed at the first meeting of the Western New York Umpires’ Association ever held without Tom Mercer’s presence. Sixty-eight responded to the call for the session, at which the momentous task of selecting a successor to the founder of the organization was the principal order of business.
The umpires realize the responsibilities they are assuming and most of them seem determined to carry on the duties he made his life’s work. The Evening News always has been behind the association and will continue its support as long as the officials conduct their affairs upon the high plane Mercer established.
Baseball clubs within a radius of
more than 50 miles of
Reardon to Fill Post Left Vacant by Death of Thomas P. Mercer Jr.
Buffalo Evening News, Monday,
April 7, 1941, page 20
Cornelius J. Reardon Sunday was
elected successor to the late Thomas P. Mercer Jr. as president and chief of
umpires of the Western New York Umpires’ Association in the Cazenovia
Men’s Club,
Charles J. Kelly, first vice president; John J. Burns, second vice president; Gerald F. Powers, secretary; Albert A. Flach, treasurer; Thomas S. Cegielski, sergeant-at-arms. The board of directors will comprise Millard V. Jeffery, Martin V. Huber, Leo W. Pacanowski, John J. Brown and Edward J. Lampshire.
Mrs. Thomas P. Mercer Jr., wife
of the late president, was named honorary president. Mr. Reardon lives in
