Background
Thomas Henry Connolly was born on December 31, 1870 in Manchester, England. At the age of thirteen he immigrated to America with his family and settled in Natick, Massachussets.
Thomas Henry Connolly was born on December 31, 1870 in Manchester, England. At the age of thirteen he immigrated to America with his family and settled in Natick, Massachussets.
Connoly became interested in baseball, but he never amounted to much as a player. He therefore read every baseball book he could find and eventually became an expert on its rules.
At fifteen Connolly began umpiring local YMCA games as well as school and sandlot contests. In 1894 he obtained his first professional job, in the New England League. Connolly moved in 1898 to the National League, where he worked two and a half seasons before quitting because he felt that club owners did not offer umpires firm enough support when disputes arose with players. This issue was of special importance to Connolly, who at five feet, six inches, and 130 pounds could ill afford to stand alone in confrontations with angry athletes. In 1901 the American League was formed, and Connolly accepted Ban Johnson's offer of a job. Of four games scheduled on opening day, three were rained out. Only the game between Chicago and Cleveland, the contest that Connolly was working, was played. Consequently, Connolly enjoyed the distinction of umpiring the first American League game. That the American League offered more support and protection to its umpires than the National League did is testified to by his ejection of ten players from games in his first season, without being injured.
As his career developed, Connolly added other "firsts" to that of single-handedly umpiring the first American League game. He umpired the first game at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, at Fenway Park in Boston, at the old New York Highlanders' field, and, almost a quarter-century later, at Yankee Stadium in New York City. In addition he and Hank O'Day officiated in the first modern World Series, played in 1903 between Boston and Pittsburgh. (Eventually Connolly umpired a total of eight World Series--1903, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1916, 1920, and 1924. ) The Boston-Pittsburgh game was Connolly's first experience working with another umpire, for until 1909 umpires almost always operated alone. Connolly said, "It was really lonely when I broke in in '96. The umpire worked all alone. That's why we got mobbed so often. Was I ever mobbed? Plenty of times. .. ." One call that almost got Connolly mobbed took place in Detroit during a tight pennant race. Ty Cobb was at bat, with the Tigers one run behind in the ninth inning. He hit a triple, but stepped across the plate as he did so, and Connolly had to call him out. He attributed his safe exit from the park that day to the fact that there were plenty of police present. Another notable call came in 1922, at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Babe Ruth, in one of his "bad boy" outbursts, headed for the stands in pursuit of a fan who had been heckling him. Connolly stopped the Babe by blocking his way, then threw him out of the game. The star reacted with a barrage of what was later officially labeled in a suspension notice as "vulgar and vicious" language. This incident was both the last time Babe Ruth was ejected from a game and the final time Connolly ejected a player. Connolly's authority on the field enabled him to spend his last decade as an umpire without removing a player from a contest. When he retired from active officiating in 1931, Connolly accepted the position of chief of staff of American League umpires. He attended major league games to review the umpires' performance.
He retired from this post in January 1954, after fifty-six years in professional baseball. Connolly left his mark behind home plate, for he was largely responsible for the retention of the inflated chest protector worn for many years by American League umpires. Even after his retirement Connolly continued to serve baseball as a member of the Rules Committee. He died at Natick, Massachussets.
In 1902, Connolly married Margaret L. Davis; they had ten children.
