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Bruce Froemming

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Sports Executive

The Resume

    (September 28, 1939- )
    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    National League umpire (1971-99), and worked both National and American Leagues (2000-07)
    Umpired in five World Series: 1976, 1984, 1988, 1990 and 1995
    Umpired in three All-Star Games: 1975, 1986 and 2007
    April 20th, 2007, became oldest umpire in major league history (67 years, 204 days)
    Retired from umpiring September 30th, 2007, having become only the second person in MLB history to umpire over 5,000 games
    Afterward became Major League Baseball Special Assistant to the Vice President on Umpiring

Why he might be annoying:

    He tried to make it as a pro baseball player, but managed just a brief semi-pro playing career before abandoning the idea.
    Refereeing high school basketball games, he was recommended for the NBA by Al McGuire, but turned the position down.
    Working a minor league game, an announcer made a remark about him over the PA system, and he tossed the guy out of the game.
    A bad call at home plate with two outs in the 9th inning cost the Chicago Cubs' Milt Pappas a perfect game in 1972, an incident the two feud about to this day.
    A bad call in the 1977 National League Championship Series cost the Philadelphia Phillies the title against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Phillies fans have never forgiven him.
    Houston Astros manager Larry Dierker once said of him, 'Bruce Froemming was an absolute terror at first – a cross between Napoleon and Hitler ...especially if it's a day game after a midsummer's night contest and he has to umpire behind the plate.'
    He was fined in 1996 for asking Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza for an autograph in the clubhouse, saying (as an obvious threat) that Johnny Bench refused to sign baseballs for him once and proceeded to go 0 for 4 that day with three strikeouts.
    In 2003 he was given a 10-day suspension without pay for leaving a voice mail message after he thought the call had ended, calling an umpire administrator as a 'stupid Jew bitch.'
    Not learning anything from John McSherry's 1996 death, he never attempted to shed any pounds off his oversized frame.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At age 18 he became the youngest umpire in professional baseball in 1958.
    Between 1981-2007 he officiated in a record nine Division Series games.
    Between 1973-2000 he worked in the League Championship Series a record 10 times.
    He was known for his enthusiastic calls on strikes, which gave home field fans something to cheer about when it was against opposing players (and boo when it was against their team).
    Once asked about his eyesight, he joked, 'The Sun is 93 million miles away, and I can see that.'
    In a September 2001 game he umpired for a record 11 official no-hitters in major league history.
    His last game as ump was at Miller Park in his hometown of Milwaukee, where the Brewers hosted the San Diego Padres, and with most of his family in attendance he received a standing ovation.
    Los Angeles Times sports editor Bill Dwyre called him 'one of the game's true characters and legends' and said, 'If Hollywood did a movie, they'd send 27 yuppies to study him.'

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 76.47% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 65 Votes: 67.69% Annoying