Al Barlick Obituary

Baseball Almanac presents the actual word-for-word transcript from the obituary of umpire Al Barlick, taken from and courtesy of The New York Times.

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"Al Barlick earned the respect of peers and players with his growling, booming basso calls, clear and decisive hand signals, knowledge of the rules, proficiency on balls and strikes, unceasing hustle, and knack of anticipating and defusing rough situations." - National Baseball Hall of Fame (website)

Al Barlick Obituary

Appeared in The New York Times on December 28, 1995 | Umpires Menu

Al Barlick

Umpire, 80

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Dec. 27 (AP) —

Al Barlick, whose calls of balls and strikes in major league baseball games were among the loudest in umpiring history, died of cardiac arrest at Memorial Medical Center today. He was 80.

Barlick collapsed at his home in Springfield and died after being taken to the medical center.

He became a National League umpire in 1940, several years after a coal mining strike forced him to earn extra money umpiring sandlot games. He retired in 1972 and served as a league consultant for the next 22 years.

When Barlick was inducted into the Baseball Fall of Fame in 1989, he was only the sixth umpire to be admitted.

He is survived by his wife, Jennie, and two daughters.

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Al Barlick umpired in the major leagues for five decades and was one of the youngest ever to make it the show — appearing behind the plate at age twenty-five.

Albert Joseph Barlick was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball Veterans on February 28, 1989. His hall of fame plaque reads as follows:

ALBERT JOSEPH BARLICK
UMPIRE
NATIONAL LEAGUE 1940-1971
EARNED RESPECT OF PEERS AND PLAYERS ALIKE WITH
BOOMING, BASSO CALLS, CLEAR AND DECISIVE HAND
SIGNALS, KNOWLEDGE OF RULES, PROFICIENCY ON
BALLS AND STRIKES, ABILITY TO ANTICIPATE AND
THEN HANDLE ROUGH SITUATIONS AND UNCEASING
HUSTLE. PROFESSIONAL UMPIRE FOR FIVE DECADES;
AND AT AGE 25, ONE OF YOUNGEST TO REACH MAJORS,
WHERE HE WORKED 27 FULL SEASONS.

Did you know that Al Barlick worked seven All-Star Games, seven World Series and won the National League Umpire of the Year Award twice (1961 & 1970)?