Dale Ford - Umpiring Career

Umpiring Career

Ford was an umpire in the American League from 1974 until 1999 (wearing uniform number 20 when the AL adopted them in 1980) when he, along with several other umpires, was not retained by Major League Baseball following their resignations as part of a failed union bargaining strategy, the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation. After having had a successful career, Ford decided he was ready to retire. He was given retirement in 2001. He was well known for being behind the plate for Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, known for Bill Buckner's error; for tossing Baltimore Orioles Manager Earl Weaver out of a game during the National Anthem; and for ejecting Reggie Jackson from a game only to have Jackson begin throwing all the contents of the dugout onto the playing field. During his career, he was rated between first and twenty-fifth. Ford said "When umpires are rated low, you know they haven't kissed up to anyone." When looking back on his MLB service, Rep. Ford says, "For an old country boy with no particular brains and definitely not good looking, I felt like that was OK."

During his umpiring career, umpire union leader and Philadelphia attorney Richie Phillips brought a lawsuit against New York Yankees manager Billy Martin when Martin stated that Ford was a "stone liar, someone I'll bet $100 doesn't know how to read." Ford later sued the Texas Rangers after he fell while leaving Arlington Stadium. Ford also sued Major League Baseball for retirement pay and interest; he was one of the umpires who were not rehired in the wake of the union's failed 1999 resignation strategy.