29 Facts About Billy Evans

Billy Evans became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in major league history, and later became the youngest to officiate in the World Series at age 25.

Billy Evans later became a key front office executive for three teams and president of the minor league Southern Association.

Billy Evans was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, the third umpire ever selected.

Billy Evans gained notability as an athlete at Youngstown's Rayen School, excelling at baseball, football, and track.

In 1902, Billy Evans enrolled at Cornell University, where he played on a freshman team managed by veteran major league shortstop Hughie Jennings.

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Billy Evans returned to Ohio and accepted a job as a sports reporter at the Youngstown Daily Vindicator.

Billy Evans' ability caught the attention of Charlie Morton, president of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League, and he was offered a full-time position as a league umpire.

Billy Evans accepted the job, on the condition that he could retain his position as a sportswriter.

At 22 years of age, Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history; furthermore, he was among those very rare umpires who broke into the major leagues with little previous professional experience.

Billy Evans was regarded as the only umpire of his era who never had played professional baseball himself.

Billy Evans was the base umpire for Charlie Robertson's perfect game on April 30,1922.

On September 15,1907, in the midst of a doubleheader between the St Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers, Billy Evans suffered a skull fracture when a bottle hurled by an angry spectator knocked him unconscious.

Billy Evans became known as an innovator during more than two decades with the American League.

Billy Evans was aware of the increasing demands placed on umpires and strongly advocated formal training for baseball officials.

Furthermore, in a game that retained much of the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of earlier decades, Billy Evans "substituted diplomacy for belligerency and proved an arbiter could control a game without threats of physical violence".

In September 1921, Billy Evans was involved in a bloody fistfight with Ty Cobb, who contested one of Billy Evans' calls.

Billy Evans supposedly invited Cobb to the umpire's dressing room for "post-game festivities", and before long, the two men were brawling beneath the stands as players from both teams looked on.

Billy Evans's staff featured well-known sportswriters Jimmy Powers and Joe Williams.

Billy Evans retired from umpiring following the 1927 season to become the general manager of the Cleveland Indians, earning a substantial annual salary of $30,000.

Baseball historian Bill James observed that Billy Evans was the first front-office executive of a major league team to be officially called a "general manager".

Billy Evans served as general manager for the next eight years, until budget cuts forced him out in 1935.

Billy Evans soon found work as chief scout and head of the Boston Red Sox farm system, but left on October 8,1940, after the team sold Pee Wee Reese to the Brooklyn Dodgers over his objections.

On December 16,1946, Billy Evans accepted a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers to become their general manager.

Billy Evans married the former Hazel Baldwin in 1908; the couple had one child, Robert, who became the sports director of a radio station in Miami, Florida.

Billy Evans maintained close ties with family members and died while visiting his son in Miami.

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Lightner recalled that, shortly after his final conversation with the retired umpire, Billy Evans sent Lightner an autographed photo of himself with former Detroit Tigers manager Red Rolfe.

Billy Evans is honored for the high standard of professionalism he set during his career as an official, and he is credited as a tireless advocate of formal training for umpires.

Ironically, as David Anderson observed, Billy Evans might have been denied the opportunity to serve as an official in the major leagues "if the present day umpire school system existed during the Dead Ball Era".

In 1917 Billy Evans "noted American League Umpire" teamed up with the Spalding Athletic Library for the book, "How to umpire".