Bob Motley - The Negro Baseball Leagues: Tales of Umpiring Legendary Players, Breaking Barriers, and Making American History

Copyright 2007, 2012, 2020 by Bob Motley and Byron Motley

Previously published under the title Ruling over Monarchs, Giants, and Stars

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Motley, Bob, 1923-2017

Ruling over Monarchs, Giants & Stars : true tales of breaking barriers, umpiring baseball legends, and wild adventures in the negro leagues / Bob Motley with Byron Motley ;

foreword by Dionne Warwick ;

afterword by Larry Lester.

p. cm.

Includes index.

First edition ISBN 978-1-61321-059-8 (alk. paper)

1. Motley, Bob, 1923- 2. Baseball umpires--United States--Biography. 3. African American baseball umpires--Biography. 4. Negro leagues--History. 5. Baseball--United States--History. 6. African American baseball players. 7. Baseball players--United States. I. Motley, Byron. II. Title.

GV865.M67A3 2011

796.357092--dc23

[B]

2011042897

ISBN: 978-1-68358-400-1

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Front cover photo courtesy of the author

Back cover photo by Jeffrey Salter, 2012, www.JeffreySalter.com

Printed in the United States of America

For my wife, Pearline

No words can adequately express the love and appreciation

I have for you, or the daily joy I experience in sharing my

life with you. You are my partner, best friend, and greatest

love all wrapped into one. Out lives together these past 60-plus

years have been more than spectacular.

We have been well blessed.

This shall be written for the generation to come.

Psalm 102:18

Contents

by Dave Winfield

by Dionne Warwick

by Byron Motley

by Bob Motley

by Byron Motley

by Bob Kendrick

by Larry Lester

Foreword

by Dave Winfield

DURING MY SENIOR YEAR IN college, while playing for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, as I stepped into the batters box during the College World Series in 1973 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, I remember glancing over my shoulder at the masked man behind the plate. Back then, it was rare to see a black umpire especially at the college level, let alone the majors. As a matter of fact, even today, it is still a relatively rare phenomenon seeing a man of color as an arbiter. Over forty years later, I would come to learn that man behind the mask was none other than Bob Motley.

As a collegiate athlete, I knew nothing of this mans history to the game. I didnt know that he had called balls and strikes on iconic Negro League Hall of Famers like Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Hilton Smith, and Willard Brown. After all, I was basically a kid with my sights set on getting drafted by a major league team, and he was just the umpire.

Years laterin 2008, to be exactafter discovering his unique and historic contribution to Negro League baseball while I was serving as an executive with the San Diego Padres, I invited Bob to attend our annual Negro League celebration at PETCO Park. I am honored to have gotten to know him on a personal level during that decade of events.

Bob was blessed to have lived a very full life, and he left a legacy for others to both remember and emulate. Bob is a true American hero, having served his country as a Montford Point during World War II, ultimately receiving the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2012. A model of excellence in any generation, Bob had a life that was well lived.

What a blessing to spend time with him at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles two weeks before his passing. As we strolled though the stadium on our way to the field (where he would accompany the major league umpires at home plate to receive the lineup cards from each team manager before the start of the game) and be recognized by the capacity crowd for his military service, Bob was telling everyone he met, This is my friend, Dave Winfield. In return, I was telling the people, This is my friend Bob Motley, and let me tell you about him.

I was thrilled to learn of the life-sized statue of Bob (befittingly, at home plate) now housed at the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the perfect honor and the absolute icing on the cake recognizing the contributions of my friend to the game of baseball.

Bob, you carried yourself with dignity, kept a smile on your face, and you deserved every bit of respect from your family, community, and country who cherish your memory. Yes, you are gone, but certainly never forgotten.

Foreword

by Dionne Warwick

HOW LUCKY WE ARE to have the pleasure of sharing in the life of this most accomplished and incredible man, Bob Motley. I am honored to have been asked to write this brief foreword to this wonderful memoir. I say brief only because the foreword would be as long as the book to say all that I would want to say.

Having had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Motley and being acquainted with him and his family for over 30 years has enriched my life. By his example, he has time and again shown what it means to be a loving and caring family man.

Growing up in New Jersey around several of the Newark Eagles Negro League players like Monte Irvin, Don Newcombe, and Larry Doby, who all were friends of my dad, gives me a little insight into what Mr. Motley has accomplished. Becoming one of the first umpires of our race to cross the color line into organized baseball gave us another inspiring role model, a reminder that we can all strive for greatness and achieve our goals. And, may I add, with his achievement, the bar was set high for all umpires to rise to.

Becoming the best at whatever he attempted was his goal, and its apparent this is still his personal mantra.

I know you will enjoy the journey you are about to embark upon so Enjoy

Preface

By Byron Motley

I AM THE SON OF A LIVING LEGEND. Not everyone can say that.

For a long while, I didnt say it, either. It took me many adult years before I realized or even appreciated my lineage, but Im glad I finally came to my senses and recognized this remarkable man, Bob Motley, and his generationwhich represents a significant period of our history.

My father has lived a life! You will no doubt discover that within these pages. During his formative years growing up in the segregated South, he endured the hardships of poverty and the dangers of Ku Klux Klan violence. After World War II began, he voluntarily signed up for military service, risking his life for a country that offered only limited freedoms to Negroes. Coming home from war as a decorated veteran, he and thousands of other black service men continued to be treated like second-class citizens in their own country. These incredibly brave men were still restricted from certain jobs, educational opportunities, places they could live, establishments they could enter, water fountains from which they could drink, levels of sports they could aspire to, and the right to vote. Nevertheless, being who they were, these men, my father among them, forged ahead with lofty dreams.