Former AL Umpire Bill Haller Dies, Age 87

21-year American League umpire Bill "Fox" Haller, whose career spanned 1961 through 1982, passed away at the age of 87. The Joliet, Illinois-born Haller and brother of Tom, who played in the majors from 1961 to 1972, began umpiring after graduation from Juliet Jr College in 1955 and worked through the Goergia-Florida, New York-Penn, Northwest, and Pacific Coast minor leagues before debuting in the American League for a total of 14 games in 1961.

After a stint in Triple-A's International League in 1962, Haller joined the American League staff permanently in 1963, where he remained for the next two decades. In 1972, he worked a game behind the plate while his brother Tom caught for the Tigers, the only-ever game in which plate umpire and catcher were brothers. 

He was the last umpire to wear a balloon-style (outer) chest protector in a World Series game, which he did in 1982.

After retiring from the AL Staff, Haller joined the league office as a supervisor until 1985 and worked for the Baseball Umpire Development program until 1994.

Haller, who officiated four League Championship Series and four World Series, famously wore a microphone during a Tigers-Orioles game in September 1980, during which he ejected Baltimore manager Earl Weaver for arguing a first-inning balk call.

Related Video: Earl Weaver's legendary tirade at Bill Haller (9/17/80).

Weaver was Haller's most common ejectee by far, with the pair combining for five ejections from 1969 through 1982. California Angels skipper Bill Rigney was second-most, with three ejections in 1966 and 1967. In all, Haller finished his career with 71 ejections.

After he retired, the independent/unaffiliated Joliet Jackhammers (now the Frontier League's Joliet Slammers, named for famous Joliet-area prisons) gave away a Bill Haller bobblehead as part of a hometown promotion honoring the veteran umpire.

Haller's sleeve number 1 is currently worn by MLB umpire Bruce Dreckman.

MLB History: A Familiar Conflict of Interest

Baseball, umpires, conflicts of interest and July 14—all are related, but how?

From Jim Joyce's removal from pitcher Armando Galarraga's games following their co-authoring of Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call and a Game for Baseball History in 2011 to PBUC Executive Director Justin Klemm's controversial banishment of the competing Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpiring for a bowling party-gone horribly wrong in February 2012, the umpiring conflict of interest is real and plainly apparent—and all sports officials know of and detest hearing about the biggest officiating conflict of interest in professional sports history, basketball's Tim Donaghy fiasco.

Who wants a bobblehead? I do!

Yet of all conflicts of interest, none is as familiar as the famous umpire-player brotherly relationship of Jim and Randy Wolf. Though officially barred from working the plate for his brother's games, Jim served as home plate umpire during a Spring Training contest in 2008 that featured brother Randy on the mound. It didn't help, though, as Randy's Padres lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2. Randy himself surrendered three runs in as many innings pitched.

In 2003, Jim, then a Triple-A call-up umpire, officiated a Marlins-Dodgers series while brother Randy was on the Philadelphia Phillies, who were competing with the Marlins for the NL wild card. Succinctly, the Phillies were rooting for Florida to lose and Los Angeles to win.

Marlins lefty Mark Redman used this fact to imply an ulterior motive behind some of Jim's California calls while Randy was in Philly: "I guarantee that crosses every player's mind." Crew chief Larry Young defended Jim: "He doesn't perceive it to be a problem, and I do not, either."

Good news, too, considering—again—Jim was working a game 3,000 miles away from his brother, Randy.

Why the discussion? Well, July 14 is a landmark day in the world of family umpiring, for on July 14, 1972, umpire Bill Haller and brother Tom made history. A catcher with the Detroit Tigers, Tom worked in front of Bill during a Tigers-Royals game in what would be the first and only brother ump-catcher game in MLB history.

And if you're wondering about Bill Haller, he is the first base umpire featured and mic-ed up for a classic Earl Weaver argument and ejection during a late-season game—in the top of the first inning, nonetheless.


The following Bill Haller photographs were graciously submitted to the UEFL