The incredible, never-before-told story of Augie Donatelli—a man fellow umpires consider a legend.

Coalmines … Bombers … and Baseball …

Emmy Award-winning sportswriter/producer John Bacchia shares the incredible, never-before-told story of Augie Donatelli—one of Major League Baseball’s unsung men in blue. A coal miner from Bakerton, Pennsylvania, Donatelli served his country as a tail gunner aboard a B-17 and found his life’s calling in the bleak confines of a Nazi prison camp.

When Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant Donatelli umpired softball games to boost morale for his fellow airmen at Stalag Luft VI, little did he know he was taking fledgling steps towards becoming one of the most respected umpires in baseball history. However, prior to the end of the war, he would be subjected to a brutal “black march” across war-torn Europe before orchestrating a daring escape.

Less than a decade after serving his country, Donatelli found himself at the pinnacle of his profession—umpiring in the 1955 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. Hardened by his war experiences and his years of working in the coal mines, Donatelli hustled on the baseball diamond as if his life depended on it. He gave his heart and soul to the game he loved. Yet despite finding his dream occupation, Donatelli voluntarily put his career and livelihood in jeopardy, as he and his fellow umpires, Shag Crawford, Jocko Conlan, Al Barlick, and others, spearheaded the formation of the first umpires’ union, the Major League Umpires Association.

Cover Photo: Yankee manager Casey Stengel and Augie Donatelli standing toe-to-toe during an exhibition game, April 13th, 1951. Copyright Bettman/CORBIS

Augie

Stalag Luft VI to the Major LeaguesBy John Bacchia

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 John Bacchia
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-0724-0

Contents

Chapter One

Holy Hell

Augie Donatelli umpired his first organized game while he was aprisoner of war. The story seemed so implausible. How could such ascenario have unfolded? Little in his wildest dreams might Army AirForce Staff Sergeant Donatelli have imagined that he was testing outin his future profession. The prison camp games were laced with somany disagreements and so much verbal sparring from spirited youngAmerican POWs, that Donatelli's umpiring was a welcome solution.The contests he umpired ran so smoothly that the players insisted hework all of the games. So it was in the midst of war, suffering, anddestruction that men played softball to keep sane and to kill time, andthe career of one of baseball's most respected umpires of the fifties andsixties had taken its first fledgling steps.

As fate would have it, had Donatelli not been injured whileparachuting out of his doomed B-17 during the first daylight air raidon Berlin, he would have most certainly been playing and not umpiring.When healthy, he was a talented athlete, and a minor league caliberbaseball player. Had it not been for his experiences during World WarII, it's entirely possible that he would not have entered the world ofumpiring at all. He might never have discovered that he had a knackfor making calls. And his war record, no doubt, made him an attractivecandidate for those who hand-picked him to join the National Leaguein 1950. Donatelli was certainly perceived as a man who could handlehimself and also deal with the complaints of raging managers, players,and fans. He entered Major League Baseball during a volatile era thatfeatured the breaking of baseball's color barrier. The first black umpirewouldn't arrive until Emmett Ashford made it to the majors in 1966.But in 1950, baseball's umpiring priorities seemed focused on findingindividuals capable of handling the pressures of a changing game,and Donatelli's war record proved that he was capable of shoulderingtough challenges under pressure. In retrospect, his war experiences wereprobably very significant to his umpiring experience, and some mightsay he umpired with the command of a staff sergeant.

"I loved the guy, but he could be tough," recalled John Kibler, aNational League umpire for 27 years. "One time, he's got the plate,I'm working in the infield, and just to check the count, I said to him,"What's the count? `He stepped in front of the batter and shouted so thateveryone in the ballpark could hear, `What game are you watching?"

During a game between the San Francisco Giants and MontrealExpos, Montreal had a sizeable lead when the Giants' Chris Speier hita solo home run. It was seemingly clear to most at the ballpark that theball had sailed foul by a substantial margin, but the inexperienced thirdbase umpire had mistakenly signaled that Speier's shot was a homer.After a volatile reaction from the Expos, the young umpire lookedtowards Donatelli, who was umpiring behind the plate.

Donatelli barked, "Don't come back here, don't come back hereunless you want me to make the call!"

The umpire closest to the play was expected to make the call, butthe confused young umpire continued to amble towards Donatelli,and Augie made good on his comment and decided to reverse the call."FOUL BALL," he bellowed! The Giants' manager came charging outof the dugout towards Augie, followed by Speier. Augie later told theyoung umpire, "Don't change your mind because sooner or later they'llhammer you."

Donatelli showed little tolerance for disrespectful tirades fromballplayers, and occasionally dispatched them as if they were cadets atAir Force Basic Training boot camp. The no-nonsense military mind-setmade him unpopular with the combative spirits who seemingly nevergrew tired of challenging umpire's decisions. It also led to disputes withhard-headed managers. Augie never expressed his opinion in uncertainterms.

When a manager pleaded his point to vehement extremes, Augiewould sometimes counter with the phrase, "What are we talkingabout here?" as if to infer that no man's life was in jeopardy based anyumpiring decision. Donatelli realized he was an important keeper tothe integrity of the sport, but never lost perspective that the game waslight years removed from some of the cruelty he experienced duringWorld War II, yet when a player or manager crossed the line he showedlittle tolerance.

In the early seventies, Montreal Expos shortstop Tim Folidisplayed an unusual amount of vitriol towards umpires. Betweengames of a doubleheader in Montreal, umpires Satch Davidson andBruce Froemming complained about Foli's aggressive temperament toDonatelli.

`Hey Augie, you're the crew chief, you've got to control this guy.'

When Expos manager Gene Mauch brought the lineup card outfor the second game, Augie told him, "Hey, if I see Foli move his lips,he's gone." Mauch, himself a very prodigious umpire-baiter who had hisshare of run-ins with Donatelli, stood up for his emotionally chargedplayer.

"Augie," Mauch replied, "you don't understand. He's just a highstrungcompetitor."

Donatelli shot back, "I'm not a doctor, I'm an umpire.""All of us busted out laughing," Froemming recalled. "Mauch didn'thave an answer for that one. Augie was great, just great."Donatelli wasn't timid about putting a man in his place, and didn'ttake verbal retributions too lightly, and he certainly wasn't shy aboutejecting a player if they disrespected a decision. But it wasn't necessarilyhis own judgment that he was defending; according to him it was therespect that should be accorded for his role as a major league umpire.Presiding as if he were both judge and jury, he led the National Leaguein ejections four separate times, including a career high 13 ejections in1953. Some thought that he carried a chip on his shoulder. Others saidhe that he had the courage of his convictions. Which was it?

Leo "The Lip" Durocher, a notorious umpire baiter, was incessantlygoing toe to toe with Donatelli. Leo was thrown out of games a totalof 95 times during his managerial career. The two men went nose tonose with the frequency of ballroom dancers, but with the impassionedvitriol of hated rivals. Augie tossed players and managers out of gamesa career total of 103 times in 24 years. By comparison, Hall of Fameumpire Bill Klem ejected 251 over the course of 37 years. Donatellicame within a whisker of ejecting bombastic Oakland A's owner CharlieFinley from a World Series game, and he once ejected two differentplayers during the same at-bat.

While his military background might have played a role in his on-fieldapproach, his background as a coal miner also played a not so subtlerole in his pro-union views, and that was partially the impetus thatled him to spearhead the formation of the National League UmpiresAssociation in 1963. It was very apparent that coal mining and warexperiences were significant to his baseball career on many levels. Heemerged from a rugged past during a bellicose time filled with war andanti-union violence, and ended up in a profession that required him todraw on that toughness

As Bob Uecker conveyed in Catcher in the Wry, "Let's face it,umpiring is not an easy or happy way to make a living." It's been saidthat the umpire's life is that of a loner. He is a friend to few, and moreoften he is thought of as an enemy by all around him – including theirate fans in the stands who openly threaten his life. "Kill the...