Bill McGowan

Bill McGowan
Born	(1896-01-18)January 18, 1896 Wilmington, Delaware
Died	December 9, 1954(1954-12-09) (aged 58) Silver Spring, Maryland
Occupation	American League umpire
Height	5' 9.5" inches
Weight	178lb.

William Aloysius McGowan (January 18, 1896 – December 9, 1954) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1925 to 1954.

McGowan was born and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1913, he began umpiring in the Tri-State League. He moved on to the Virginia League in 1915, the International League and New York State League in 1916, and the Blue Ridge League in 1917.^[1] McGowan served in the United States Armed Forces during World War I in 1918, and then returned to the International League for 1919.^[2] Following the 1922 season, McGowan left the International League and joined the umpiring staff of the Southern Association, staying there until 1924.

On April 14, 1925, McGowan umpired his first American League game. He umpired third base in that game.^[3] He would umpire for 30 seasons, umpiring in eight World Series (1928, 1931, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1947, and 1950). He also worked four All-Star Games (1933, 1937, 1942, and 1950). He umpired in 2,541 consecutive games, missing a game on September 3, 1940 due to neuritis.^[4]

He died at age 58 at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, after suffering two heart attacks in less than a week.^[5] He was buried in Cathedral Cemetery in Wilmington. McGowan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 by the Veterans Committee.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball umpires

References

External links

• Bill McGowan at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• BaseballLibrary.com biography
• Retrosheet
• Bill McGowan at Find a Grave

v t e Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1992 BBWAA Vote Rollie Fingers (81.16%) Tom Seaver (98.84%) Veterans Committee Bill McGowan Hal Newhouser J. G. Taylor Spink Award Ritter Collett Ford C. Frick Award Milo Hamilton

v t e Umpires inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Barlick Chylak Conlan Connolly Evans Harvey Hubbard Klem McGowan

Persondata
Name	Macgowan, Bill
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	January 18, 1896
Place of birth	Wilmington, Delaware
Date of death	December 9, 1954
Place of death	Silver Spring, Maryland

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