MLB’s first black umpire, Emmett Ashford, broke color barrier 50 years ago

Published 4:29 pm Monday, April 11, 2016

This week, Major League Baseball umpires will wear patches with the initials “EA” in honor of Emmett Ashford, who, 50 years ago, became the first African-American to umpire a regular season MLB game.

Ashford broke MLB’s umpiring color barrier at D.C. Stadium (now known as RFK) on April 11, 1966, manning third base during the Senators’ 5-2 Opening Day loss to the Indians.

“I’ve got butterflies,” Ashford said three days before his debut. “I’ve waited a long time for a chance to make the major leagues.”

Ashford, who played baseball in college, took a leave of absence from his job as a postal worker in 1951 to pursue a career in umpiring, starting in the Southwestern International League. Three years and two additional leagues later, the Los Angeles native was promoted to the Pacific Coast League, where he worked for 12 seasons. In 1963, Ashford was named the PCL’s umpire-in-chief. In September 1965, his contract was sold to the American League, setting the stage for his historic debut.

Ashford worked spring training games for the Dodgers and Indians in 1966. Opening Day marked his first trip to D.C., which featured a couple of surprises. A magazine photographer woke Ashford up at 6 a.m. on the day of the game with a phone call confirming that he would be on hand for a 10 a.m. photo shoot. With Vice President Hubert Humphrey scheduled to attend the game, The Washington Post’s William Gildea reported that an FBI agent grabbed Ashford as he tried to enter the umpire’s room.

“I told him I was an umpire,” Ashford said. “He said there aren’t any Negro umpires in the majors. So I told him, ‘There won’t be if you don’t let me go.’ “

The agent released Ashford and he umpired his first game without incident. Humphrey greeted him after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

“You know how it is with a pioneer,” Ashford told a reporter later in the season. “It’s not all peaches and cream. A pioneer’s role is not lined with red velvet.”

The 5-foot-7 Ashford, who was known for his karate-like chop to signal a strike and sprinting to get into position to make a call, received a standing ovation when he worked his first game as the home plate umpire in Anaheim. During his first season in the big leagues, he described himself as the “the wandering minstrel of baseball who finally made it to Broadway.”

“He was a favorite of the fans,” Senators outfielder Fred Valentine, who played in the game in which Ashford broke the color barrier, told The Washington Times’s Thom Loverro. “He was energetic. They loved watching him on the field. He was different from the other umpires in the game.”

Ashford announced his retirement after the 1970 season and later served in a PR role under then-MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn. He died of a heart attack in 1980.

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Scott Allen writes about all things D.C. sports.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Scott Allen · SPORTS, BASEBALL · Apr 11, 2016 – 2:46 PM