Background
William Joseph Klem was born on February 22, 1874 in Rochester, New York, United States, the son of a German cooper named Klimm.
William Joseph Klem was born on February 22, 1874 in Rochester, New York, United States, the son of a German cooper named Klimm.
Klem's family was poor and William received only a limited education.
Klem wanted to become a professional baseball player until he sustained an arm injury. He then was a construction worker and a bartender before becoming an umpire. After officiating for several seasons in semiprofessional, minor league, and college games, he joined the National League in 1905 and umpired regularly until the end of the 1940 season. When Klem began, umpiring was a very hard life. Players, managers, fans, and newspapermen abused the umpire--usually verbally, but often physically. Salaries were low and there was no security. The team owners, when unhappy with decisions, often forced league presidents to fire umpires arbitrarily. Throughout his career, Klem battled against the problems of his trade and worked effectively to improve and win respect for it. His own earnings reflect the change in the status of umpires. Starting at a salary of $2, 100 for the 1905 season, Klem was making about $10, 000 by the 1930's, far less than such superstars as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio, but at least twice as much as the average baseball player in the major leagues. He was paid $400 for his first world series (1908), but by 1918 he demanded and received $1, 000, and the rate was $2, 500 by 1940. He used his increased earnings to speculate in Florida real estate in the 1920's, but the hurricane of 1926 put an end to the venture. Klem also pressed successfully for private dressing rooms and larger expense accounts for umpires. Baseball officials expressed their confidence in him by calling upon him to umpire eighteen world series, a record. They sent him to all of the training camps in 1920 to explain the changes in the pitching rules, and appointed him supervisor of National League umpires after advancing age and eye problems forced him to stop officiating at games. This assignment, which lasted until his retirement in 1948, enabled him to train and oversee the work of the league's umpires.
Klem effectively combated rowdyism in the sport, chiefly by intimidating people. A stocky man who appeared to be shorter than he was, Klem had a round head, a thick neck, large ears, a large nose, and a wide mouth with heavy lips. Some participants in the game called him "Catfish, " a name that infuriated him. Proud as well as sensitive, he was quick to resent any questioning of his decisions or his authority and demanded that he be called "Mr. Klem. " He considered his trade a profession, and his knowledge of the rules of the game was encyclopedic. His most frequent foe was John J. McGraw, the manager of the New York Giants, but he was just as quick to do battle with lesser-known figures. He often threw them out of games and fined them, especially during his early years. When faced with an irate player or manager, he would draw a line in the dirt with his spikes and threaten to eject the individual who crossed over it.
Klem enjoyed betting on the horses. This practice offended the commissioner of baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was convinced that baseball people should avoid anything that could lead to a scandal. Klem, however, continued to go to the track while gaining satisfaction and prestige from the game he regarded as a "religion" and "the greatest thing that ever happened to this country. "
On February 2, 1910, Klem married Marie Kranz; they had no children.
