Baseball History: Umpire Tim Hurst Arrested for Assault
August 4th was a particularly bad day for umpire Tim Hurst in baseball history. First, he was arrested for assault, then 12 years later, was fired for his actions during another game.
Tim Hurst was known as one of the toughest umpires in baseball history. He was considered a fair, yet demanding, umpire, and was known for his tendency to challenge players that disagreed with his calls to a fistfight under the bleachers. He once spat in the eye of a player that disagreed with one of his calls by stepping out of the batter’s box. Hurst was a unique character in the early days of the game.
His temper was fairly well known by this day in 1897. Hurst was umpiring a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds when the crowd disagreed with one of his calls. One incensed fan threw an empty beer bottle at the umpire, which was generally a mistake. Hurst picked up the bottle and fired it into the crowd, where he hit a firefighter in the face, opening a gash above his eye.
Understandably, the local authorities did not take kindly to Hurst’s display. He was arrested on the field and charged with assault. Hurst would end up being fined $100 for his actions, a fairly princely sum in those days.
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Eventually, his temper became too much. In 1900, teams began to ask that he be banned from their cities for his anger and extensive usage of profanity. Finally, in 1904, he was fired by the National League after just one game, remaining out of work until he was hired by the American League the following year.
His stint in the AL was much shorter, and came to an end on this day in 1909. On a call late in the second game of a doubleheader, Hurst called Athletics second baseman Eddie Collins out after he tried to advance to second on a fly ball. The probem was, White Sox second baseman Jake Atz had clearly dropped the ball. Nonetheless, Hurst stuck with his call, and when Collins objected, he insulted the player and spat his wad of chewing tobacco at him.
Eventually, it came out that the motivation for the horrendous call was that Hurst was trying to catch a train back home, and wanted to shorten the game. Those actions and rationale, coupled with Hurst fighting Kid Elberfeld earlier in the season, led to Ban Johnson banishing him from the game.
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Tim Hurst was one of the more colorful umpires in baseball history. On this day, his anger got the best of him twice 12 years apart, leading to severe consequences both times.