THE THIRD TEAM: UNMASKING FRATERNITY AND MASCULINITY AMONG MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL UMPIRES 1970-2010

Over the past thirty years, sports history—especially baseball history—has exploded onto the academic scene and has become a legitimate historical field of study, much more than just a game. While baseball history has emerged as a legitimate historical subfield, baseball umpires themselves have oddly escaped critical analysis. The current literature on umpires is scattered and fragmented with few scholars outside of psychology and law scrutinizing the umpiring profession. Academic historians have all but ignored these “men in blue.” This dissertation rectifies that gap, synthesizing existing secondary literature with original research—such as oral histories, thoughtful investigation of memoirs, artifacts, game film, and archival research—and offering a deep critical analysis of baseball umpires within the context of cultural social constructs. Focusing predominately on the post-1970 era, this thesis examines how historical concepts of American manhood influenced how Major League umpires perform their trade on and off the field. Most importantly, this project demonstrates that a ‘bottoms up’ comprehensive analysis of an otherwise forgotten profession can give us a fresh lens for studying how large historical trends involving masculinity, brotherhood, honor, and health manifest themselves in American popular culture. As a result, by scrutinizing and evaluating the cultural significance of professional baseball umpires and the social constructs by which they adhere, this dissertation will enrich our understanding of baseball history and American culture itself.