Final Card Friday: 1916 George Moriarty

Perry Costello, one of the NCAA’s best umpires, says an umpire needs, “the courage and confidence” to make the difficult calls and do the right things when managing a baseball game. When the crowd is buzzing, the tension is palpable, and every play matters, an umpire’s focus, courage, and confidence is what separates the average arbiters from the great ones. In the 1935 World Series, George Moriarty showed his courage and confidence.

In game three of the 1935 fall classic between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs, umpire George Moriarty ejected,  a World Series record, three Cubs for anti-Semitic bench jockeying toward Tigers star, Hank Greenberg. He did this despite a directive from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis not to eject any players from the World Series without his permission. For his transgression, Moriarty was fined $200, the equivalent of almost $3,700 in 2018 dollars.

George Moriarty was an American League umpire from 1917 until 1940, interrupted in 1927-28 when he managed the Detroit Tigers. During his tenure, he was considered one of the best arbiters in baseball. He worked five World Series and the 1934 All-Star Game.  Even though he’s not a Hall of Fame umpire, he is still an umpiring hero because of the courage and confidence he displayed during the 1935 World Series.  I only have one T206 baseball card in my collection…and it’s George Moriarty. When I catch a glimpse of it on my shelf, it reminds me to have the courage and confidence to do what is right in my life.

George Moriarty’s final APBA card was challenging to track down. As a matter of fact, I had to use Steve’s APBA Card Computer to create an image of his 1916 card.  This is a pretty awful card, but it represents only seven plate appearances. Before the Chicago White Sox released him in May, he only appeared in seven games, all as a pinch hitter.  In five at bats, Moriarty managed to hit a single.

Many APBA Baseball Game players are probably familiar with George Moriarty’s 1909 APBA card because the 1909 Detroit Tigers have been included in the Great Teams of the Past (GTOP) sets for years.  The bulk of Moriarty’s thirteen year career was spent with the Tigers, with 1909 being his finest season in Detroit.  Moriarty was known as a strong armed third baseman, who never backed down from a fight.  It’s been said that his teammate, Ty Cobb, once challenged him to a fight. Moriarty gave Cobb a bat so that it might be an even match. In a 1909 game, Moriarty was caught stealing home to end a game. The catcher had some words for young George and spit tobacco juice in his face. Moments later that same catcher found himself on his back, flattened by a Moriarty punch. George’s fighting spirit didn’t end with his playing days. After a Memorial Day game in 1932, Moriarty fought four Chicago White Sox simultaneously to a draw. He was getting old and losing his touch, because in the past he would have won the bout easily.  Ironically, Moriarty was a reserved, generous, and religious man outside the ballpark. However, if you ever crossed him on the diamond, you got a fiery Irishman.

Moriarty was also famous for his ability to steal home. In the 1908 and 1909 seasons,  he stole home between 15 and 20 times.  Moriarty was so famous for stealing home that there was an editorial written about him called, “Don’t Die on Third,” by Detroit News writer William J. Cameron.  At the time, it was more popular nationally than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Hank Greenberg said Moriarty use to try to instruct him on how to steal home when George was umpiring third base. However, Greenberg said he never had the guts to go for the plate.

After his Big League days, Moriarty bounced around the minor leagues before settling in as an AL umpire in 1917. When his umpiring days were over, he was a scout for the Tigers, discovering several Major Leaguers, including Harvey Kuenn. It’s hard to imagine someone in modern Big League baseball going from a player, to a manager, to an umpire, and then to a scout. However, the early days of professional baseball allowed such opportunities. George Moriarty was a renaissance man who saw baseball from many angles. He always had the courage and confidence to take on new challenges. Because of that, I still think he’s someone who has a has a lesson for all of us.