Umpiring legend Bruce Froemming, lifelong Milwaukeean, dies at 86

In 1958, 18-year-old Bruce Froemming jumped off a Greyhound bus from Milwaukee and found himself at a minor league park in Waterloo, Iowa, wearing an umpire’s uniform he’d bought for $20. The Milwaukee Custer High School alum is commencing a half-century effort that would put him in the same league as baseball’s greatest stars.

Froming died on February 26 at the age of 86, according to his family, which was first reported by CBS 58. Fromming later set the Major League Baseball record for most consecutive umpires, overseeing nearly 5,200 games.

Fromming’s career highlights are many, including his first game at his hometown Miller Park and his final career game at the same location, the season finale between the Brewers and Padres. His 5,163 games as an umpire still rank third in MLB history. He appeared in five World Series (1976, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995), 10 League Championship Series and three All-Star Games, including one in 1975 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

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After retiring, Froming served as director of officiating, often overseeing games at Miller Park before retiring at the end of the 2016 season.

“It’s awesome,” Fromming told Gary D’Amato of the Journal Sentinel in 2007, just before he retired. “How many people can say they’ve spent their whole life doing what they want to do? I don’t want to be a race car driver or anything. I want to be a referee.”

Bruce Froemming entered the major leagues in 1971

The road to the show was a long one, starting with playing in the Nebraska Conference as a teenager, then moving on to the Northern Conference, Northwest Conference, Texas League and Pacific Coast Conference. Perhaps it should be said that the journey began much earlier, when Fromin saw a newspaper ad for a referee at a local park for $56 a week. Fromin took the job when he had time after retiring from the Custer varsity baseball team.

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“The Blues are unique,” ​​former MLB commissioner Bud Selig, a Milwaukee native, once told Milwaukee Magazine. “He’s rough and tough, exactly what a referee needs. He loves what he does every day. That’s the way it should be, that’s the way it should be.”

Froming recalled that D’Amato attended a game at County Stadium with his wife during the Milwaukee Braves’ heyday and dreamed of being on that same dirt.

“Fifty years ago, after my first season as a (minor league) umpire, my wife and I came to County Stadium to watch a Braves game,” Froming said in 2007. “I told her on the top of the mountain, ‘One day, maybe I’ll be refereeing here.'”

After 12 years as a professional umpire, he entered the major leagues in 1971, when a game between the Expos and Mets at New York’s Shea Stadium was interrupted by snow after five innings. Fromin was part of Hall of Famer Al Barrick’s team that day. A major league-record 37-year streak began, with the game total second only to that of the legendary Bill Klem (both later surpassed by Joe West).

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If not for the customary mid-season break for modern referees, Fromin would have easily surpassed Clem’s mark.

Fromming never forgot his Milwaukee roots, though. He was friendly with Milwaukee Bucks head coach Don Nelson and attended the unveiling of a statue honoring Selig at American Family Stadium.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Bruce Fromming,” longtime Milwaukee sportscaster Jim Paschke wrote on social media. “Legendary MLB umpire. Unforgettable personality. Always affable, affable, and downright hilarious. Automatically smiling and laughing with him is something I will remember and cherish. Rest in peace.”

There were some controversial moments. After all, Fromin is a referee.

A referee’s life wouldn’t be complete without some high-profile calls that fans won’t forget.

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On September 2, 1972, Chicago Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas nearly got out of a perfect game when Pappas walked Larry Stahl in a 3-2 count; Pappas was angry that Fromin called a near pitch early in the at-bat. Pappas still completed the no-hitter, which would be the last no-hitter for the Cubs until Carlos Zambrano broke the Cubs record with a no-hitter in 2008 at Miller Park.

“Pappas, in the Chicago Sun-Times the next day, said, ‘I know these pitches are balls, but he could have given it to me.'” Froming recalled in a report after Pappas’ death in 2016. “So I went to the ballpark the next day and I was surrounded by the media. (Cubs announcer Lou) Boudreau asked if he could interview me. I said, ‘Sure.’ During the interview, he said, ‘You could have been famous. “You could have been the 12th perfect-game referee in the history of the game.” I said to Boudreau, “Who is the 11th referee?” He said he didn’t know. I said: ‘That’s how famous I’ll be. ‘”

Floemming would later call and load the bases for Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter in 1981 (Ryan’s fifth) and eventually pitch a perfect game when he pitched a single off Dennis Martinez for the 1991 Expos. They were two of the 11 no-hitters that Fromin was a part of.

Fromin also ousted Yankees manager Billy Martin from the 1976 World Series. In the 1977 NLCS, Dodgers and future Brewers manager Davey Lopes hit a ball from Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt to shortstop Larry Bowa at first base, which was declared safe by Froemming at first base. The call tied the game for the Dodgers and became even more important as the Dodgers ultimately won the game and series.

In 2007, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner accused Froming of not postponing Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS, Froming’s ninth and final Division Series. That game between the Yankees and Cleveland became infamous when a swarm of Lake Erie mosquitoes on the field harassed Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain, who gave up a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning. “

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There was controversy off the field, too. In 2003, he was suspended for 10 games for leaving a voicemail containing anti-Semitic and misogynistic slurs to a referee administrator. Frommin apologized. “I said a stupid thing and I accept the punishment,” he said. “I don’t have any anti-Semitism.”

In 1996, he was fined for entering the Dodgers clubhouse to seek Mike Piazza’s autograph. Froming claimed he did it to help his mother fight cancer.

Bruce Froming’s Figures

• Number of MLB game umpires: 5,163 (third all-time)

• Number of seasons: 37 (second in history)

• World Series: 22 (1976, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995)

• League Championship Series games: 52 (MLB record)

• Division Series: 24 (MLB record)

• All-Star Games: 3 (including 1975 in Milwaukee)

• No-hits: 11 (four behind home plate)