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Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano
Big Loosh is the biography of Ron Luciano, an outsized figure who was an MLB umpire in the 1970s, worked in broadcasting, published five books, and became a personality off the field—yet whose upbeat public face was at odds with his private struggle with depression.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published July 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2026
There is an old adage in baseball that the better umpires do their job, the less that they are noticed. That was not the case for Ron Luciano, an American League umpire in the 1970’s. His journey to become one of the most recognizable umpires of that time is captured in this book by Jim Leeke.
Most notable about Luciano’s early life is that baseball was not his first choice for sports. He was an excellent lineman on both sides of the ball for Syracuse University. He played in the 1959 College All-Star game when that game existed and was a second round draft choice of the Detroit Lions. He eventually landed with the Buffalo Bills in the AFL but appeared in only two games as his time in pro football was plagued with injuries. This was where I felt the book was excellent, with Leeke explaining in good detail how Luciano was really a football player at heart. It was also explained that it was here where Luciano was an excellent storyteller (the truth of these stories was often in question). The story of how Hall of Famer “Big Daddy” Lipscomb contributed to Luciano’s injuries is told wonderfully here.
After his football career ended, Luciano decided to enroll in umpire school and did very well, leading to his assignment in the minor leagues with an eventual call-up to MLB in 1969. Much like players, umpires that make it to The Show have an interesting adventure to get there, and Leeke describes that path for Luciano quite well.
While in the regular rotation for American League umpires, Luciano would often provide fans with a little entertainment, such as making a shooting motion to call a runner out at first base. This drew a mixed reaction from fans, players, managers and the media. Luciano loved hearing from those who liked it, ignored the critics and also became an umpire who was generally considered one of the better umpires in the American League.
Leeke covers as much ground as he can on that topic and also on Luciano’s career as an author after his time as an umpire was done. After a brief time as a baseball broadcaster for NBC, Luciano had a best selling memoir, The Umpire Strikes Back. He also wrote a sequel to this about other umpires, Strike Two, which didn’t do as well plus two other books. Here, Leeke covers more ground on how well or not well the books did than Luciano’s life.
Finally, the book has a short section on Luciano’s final years, ending tragically with his suicide by running his car in a locked garage at age 57. Here, there isn’t much material and it felt like the ending of this book came on too suddenly. In fairness to the author, Leeke did state that when he was attempting to learn more about the circumstances of Luciano’s suicide, friends and family did not want to discuss that. Despite this ending, if a reader either wants to learn more about this colorful umpire, it is a fairly short and quick read that is packed with good stories about him.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Most notable about Luciano’s early life is that baseball was not his first choice for sports. He was an excellent lineman on both sides of the ball for Syracuse University. He played in the 1959 College All-Star game when that game existed and was a second round draft choice of the Detroit Lions. He eventually landed with the Buffalo Bills in the AFL but appeared in only two games as his time in pro football was plagued with injuries. This was where I felt the book was excellent, with Leeke explaining in good detail how Luciano was really a football player at heart. It was also explained that it was here where Luciano was an excellent storyteller (the truth of these stories was often in question). The story of how Hall of Famer “Big Daddy” Lipscomb contributed to Luciano’s injuries is told wonderfully here.
After his football career ended, Luciano decided to enroll in umpire school and did very well, leading to his assignment in the minor leagues with an eventual call-up to MLB in 1969. Much like players, umpires that make it to The Show have an interesting adventure to get there, and Leeke describes that path for Luciano quite well.
While in the regular rotation for American League umpires, Luciano would often provide fans with a little entertainment, such as making a shooting motion to call a runner out at first base. This drew a mixed reaction from fans, players, managers and the media. Luciano loved hearing from those who liked it, ignored the critics and also became an umpire who was generally considered one of the better umpires in the American League.
Leeke covers as much ground as he can on that topic and also on Luciano’s career as an author after his time as an umpire was done. After a brief time as a baseball broadcaster for NBC, Luciano had a best selling memoir, The Umpire Strikes Back. He also wrote a sequel to this about other umpires, Strike Two, which didn’t do as well plus two other books. Here, Leeke covers more ground on how well or not well the books did than Luciano’s life.
Finally, the book has a short section on Luciano’s final years, ending tragically with his suicide by running his car in a locked garage at age 57. Here, there isn’t much material and it felt like the ending of this book came on too suddenly. In fairness to the author, Leeke did state that when he was attempting to learn more about the circumstances of Luciano’s suicide, friends and family did not want to discuss that. Despite this ending, if a reader either wants to learn more about this colorful umpire, it is a fairly short and quick read that is packed with good stories about him.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
June 25, 2025
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “BEING AN UMPIRE… WAS SORT OF LIKE BEING A KING…
NEITHER JOB PREPARES YOU FOR ANYTHING ELSE.”
(RON LUCIANO)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This posthumous biography of former (and much more… as you will soon see!) **ONE-OF-A-KIND-MAJOR-LEAGUE-UMPIRE** RON LUCIANO… will bring back almost hard to believe… “did that rally happen” memories to old-school baseball fans… and for younger baseball (and all sports) fans… it will… literally make them feel… like they weren’t allowed to visit Disneyland’s magic kingdom!
No baseball… or football… or basketball… or hockey… or hop scotch arbiter on your side street… ever carried on more entertainingly… during an actual game (his MLB career started in 1969) than Ron Luciano. Despite being 6’ 4” tall and weighing at various times between 240 and 300 pounds… he would at times prance around on the tips of his toes… like a ballerina in a football players body! And who more than Ron could pull that off… since he was an All-American tackle for Syracuse University… and was drafted into the NFL by the Detroit Lions. Injury after injury… led to the dashing of Luciano’s pro football dreams.
Ron caused controversy when in the Major Leagues… he started calling players out… by shooting them… with his thumb and forefinger. He took pictures and signed autographs with fans… he hugged bat-boys… and his fame continued to grow. But… it was certainly not all “cotton-candy… and sea shells”… in his life on and off the field. Some players voted him the best umpire… some players voted him the worst. Some umpires loved working with him… and called him their friend. Some umpires said he was a travesty… and an embarrassment to the game. He had career long… over the top battles with Hall of Fame manager…Earl Weaver… and each one… ripped the other in the books they wrote. Also an ongoing battle with tempestuous manager Billy Martin… and countless others. He talked so much to players during the game… some such as Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski purportedly said:
“LISTEN, YOU BLEEP, MY WIFE IS OKAY, MY KIDS ARE OKAY, I’M OKAY, I DON’T KNOW ANY GOOD EATING PLACES IN TOWN AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!”
He became a best-selling author with among others a New York times best seller entitled *THE UMPIRE STRIKES BACK”… and what the author Jim Leeke builds his story around… is in depth research… expertly documented with at least sixty pages of bibliography… and index in the back of the book. And the reason this documentation is so important in addition to the obvious… is the author’s main sub-plot is ever present… whims of fancy…. Additions of embellishments… and to be frank… pure B.S… that Luciano… casted about… like flipping a bag of bread crumbs to a pack of pigeons! (and coincidentally Ron liked pigeons!) The author spends much of the book uncovering what he entitles **LUCIANO-LORE**.
After leaving umpiring… earlier than he may have wished… due to a combination of baseball strikes… umpire strikes… discord… with umpires… players… executives… well… just about everyone… he became a color-announcer-sidekick on the baseball game of the week… and that lasted a couple of years. He bounced from coaching football and teaching at various schools… appeared in numerous ads… and had a sporting goods store even while he was umpiring… but it all was either unfulfilling… or an eventual failure.
Throughout the ups and downs… every person that knew him… or came into contact with him… always said he was the happiest… friendliest… endearing person… you could find…
That’s why it was so utterly shocking to all that knew him (NOTE: This is not a spoiler… as the pre-release marketing information from the publisher highlighted this… as does the book cover itself.) when he was found dead… after committing suicide in an intricate laid out plan at the garage in his house. He had a detailed goodbye note… his financial documents… and his desires as to burial wishes laid out waiting in his house. He even had a friend scheduled to come over to his house at a specific time to help him with some work in the garage. Ron was in the garage asphyxiated with a tube from the gas -pipe. The garage door was locked… and the front door wide open.
The only shortcoming in the book… to me… after all the detailed life story… and the pointed research to constantly highlight Ron’s stretching… and fabrications… to create the author’s “Luciano-Lore”… that almost less than minuscule detail… the internal pain… suffering… unknown… the actual angst of Luciano’s life… barely a few pages… at the very end of the book.
The funny… loquacious… athletic… and endearing… Ron Luciano… 1995… out at home… at fifty-seven years-old.
R.I.P.
NEITHER JOB PREPARES YOU FOR ANYTHING ELSE.”
(RON LUCIANO)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This posthumous biography of former (and much more… as you will soon see!) **ONE-OF-A-KIND-MAJOR-LEAGUE-UMPIRE** RON LUCIANO… will bring back almost hard to believe… “did that rally happen” memories to old-school baseball fans… and for younger baseball (and all sports) fans… it will… literally make them feel… like they weren’t allowed to visit Disneyland’s magic kingdom!
No baseball… or football… or basketball… or hockey… or hop scotch arbiter on your side street… ever carried on more entertainingly… during an actual game (his MLB career started in 1969) than Ron Luciano. Despite being 6’ 4” tall and weighing at various times between 240 and 300 pounds… he would at times prance around on the tips of his toes… like a ballerina in a football players body! And who more than Ron could pull that off… since he was an All-American tackle for Syracuse University… and was drafted into the NFL by the Detroit Lions. Injury after injury… led to the dashing of Luciano’s pro football dreams.
Ron caused controversy when in the Major Leagues… he started calling players out… by shooting them… with his thumb and forefinger. He took pictures and signed autographs with fans… he hugged bat-boys… and his fame continued to grow. But… it was certainly not all “cotton-candy… and sea shells”… in his life on and off the field. Some players voted him the best umpire… some players voted him the worst. Some umpires loved working with him… and called him their friend. Some umpires said he was a travesty… and an embarrassment to the game. He had career long… over the top battles with Hall of Fame manager…Earl Weaver… and each one… ripped the other in the books they wrote. Also an ongoing battle with tempestuous manager Billy Martin… and countless others. He talked so much to players during the game… some such as Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski purportedly said:
“LISTEN, YOU BLEEP, MY WIFE IS OKAY, MY KIDS ARE OKAY, I’M OKAY, I DON’T KNOW ANY GOOD EATING PLACES IN TOWN AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!”
He became a best-selling author with among others a New York times best seller entitled *THE UMPIRE STRIKES BACK”… and what the author Jim Leeke builds his story around… is in depth research… expertly documented with at least sixty pages of bibliography… and index in the back of the book. And the reason this documentation is so important in addition to the obvious… is the author’s main sub-plot is ever present… whims of fancy…. Additions of embellishments… and to be frank… pure B.S… that Luciano… casted about… like flipping a bag of bread crumbs to a pack of pigeons! (and coincidentally Ron liked pigeons!) The author spends much of the book uncovering what he entitles **LUCIANO-LORE**.
After leaving umpiring… earlier than he may have wished… due to a combination of baseball strikes… umpire strikes… discord… with umpires… players… executives… well… just about everyone… he became a color-announcer-sidekick on the baseball game of the week… and that lasted a couple of years. He bounced from coaching football and teaching at various schools… appeared in numerous ads… and had a sporting goods store even while he was umpiring… but it all was either unfulfilling… or an eventual failure.
Throughout the ups and downs… every person that knew him… or came into contact with him… always said he was the happiest… friendliest… endearing person… you could find…
That’s why it was so utterly shocking to all that knew him (NOTE: This is not a spoiler… as the pre-release marketing information from the publisher highlighted this… as does the book cover itself.) when he was found dead… after committing suicide in an intricate laid out plan at the garage in his house. He had a detailed goodbye note… his financial documents… and his desires as to burial wishes laid out waiting in his house. He even had a friend scheduled to come over to his house at a specific time to help him with some work in the garage. Ron was in the garage asphyxiated with a tube from the gas -pipe. The garage door was locked… and the front door wide open.
The only shortcoming in the book… to me… after all the detailed life story… and the pointed research to constantly highlight Ron’s stretching… and fabrications… to create the author’s “Luciano-Lore”… that almost less than minuscule detail… the internal pain… suffering… unknown… the actual angst of Luciano’s life… barely a few pages… at the very end of the book.
The funny… loquacious… athletic… and endearing… Ron Luciano… 1995… out at home… at fifty-seven years-old.
R.I.P.
May 13, 2025
Book Review: Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano by Jim Leeke
Rating: 4.3/5
Overview
Jim Leeke’s Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano is a vibrant and meticulously researched biography that captures the larger-than-life personality of one of baseball’s most colorful umpires. Ron Luciano, known for his theatrical calls, fiery confrontations, and eventual disillusionment with the sport, is brought to life through Leeke’s engaging prose and sharp narrative focus. The book is more than a sports biography—it’s a study of charisma, controversy, and the often-overlooked pressures of officiating in America’s pastime.
Section Scoring Breakdown
Narrative Structure & Pacing (3.5/5)
Leeke balances chronological storytelling with thematic chapters, ensuring a dynamic read. The early years of Luciano’s career are particularly gripping, though the later sections on his post-umpiring struggles occasionally lose momentum.
Character Depth & Psychological Insight (4/5)
Luciano’s boisterous persona is well-documented, but Leeke digs deeper, exploring his insecurities, clashes with authority, and eventual burnout. The psychological portrait is nuanced, though some readers may wish for even more introspection into Luciano’s private struggles.
Historical & Cultural Context (4.5/5)
The book excels in situating Luciano within the broader landscape of 1970s-80s baseball—an era of big personalities and growing media scrutiny. Leeke’s analysis of how umpires navigated player egos and league politics is particularly illuminating.
Writing Style & Engagement (4/5)
Leeke’s prose is lively and accessible, mirroring Luciano’s own flair for the dramatic. Anecdotes about legendary baseball clashes (especially with Billy Martin and Earl Weaver) are narrated with wit and energy. At times, however, the humor risks overshadowing deeper analysis.
Originality & Contribution to Sports Literature (4.5/5)
While umpires are rarely the focus of sports biographies, Leeke makes a compelling case for Luciano’s significance. The book fills a niche in baseball historiography, though it occasionally leans on well-trodden anecdotes from Luciano’s own memoirs.
Final Thoughts
Big Loosh is a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking biography that does justice to Ron Luciano’s legacy. Leeke captures both the spectacle and the solitude of umpiring, offering a fresh perspective on baseball’s unsung arbiters. Though the narrative occasionally prioritizes humor over depth, the book remains a standout in sports literature—a must-read for fans of the game and its behind-the-scenes dramas.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Jim Leeke, for providing an advance copy of Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4.3/5
Overview
Jim Leeke’s Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano is a vibrant and meticulously researched biography that captures the larger-than-life personality of one of baseball’s most colorful umpires. Ron Luciano, known for his theatrical calls, fiery confrontations, and eventual disillusionment with the sport, is brought to life through Leeke’s engaging prose and sharp narrative focus. The book is more than a sports biography—it’s a study of charisma, controversy, and the often-overlooked pressures of officiating in America’s pastime.
Section Scoring Breakdown
Narrative Structure & Pacing (3.5/5)
Leeke balances chronological storytelling with thematic chapters, ensuring a dynamic read. The early years of Luciano’s career are particularly gripping, though the later sections on his post-umpiring struggles occasionally lose momentum.
Character Depth & Psychological Insight (4/5)
Luciano’s boisterous persona is well-documented, but Leeke digs deeper, exploring his insecurities, clashes with authority, and eventual burnout. The psychological portrait is nuanced, though some readers may wish for even more introspection into Luciano’s private struggles.
Historical & Cultural Context (4.5/5)
The book excels in situating Luciano within the broader landscape of 1970s-80s baseball—an era of big personalities and growing media scrutiny. Leeke’s analysis of how umpires navigated player egos and league politics is particularly illuminating.
Writing Style & Engagement (4/5)
Leeke’s prose is lively and accessible, mirroring Luciano’s own flair for the dramatic. Anecdotes about legendary baseball clashes (especially with Billy Martin and Earl Weaver) are narrated with wit and energy. At times, however, the humor risks overshadowing deeper analysis.
Originality & Contribution to Sports Literature (4.5/5)
While umpires are rarely the focus of sports biographies, Leeke makes a compelling case for Luciano’s significance. The book fills a niche in baseball historiography, though it occasionally leans on well-trodden anecdotes from Luciano’s own memoirs.
Final Thoughts
Big Loosh is a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking biography that does justice to Ron Luciano’s legacy. Leeke captures both the spectacle and the solitude of umpiring, offering a fresh perspective on baseball’s unsung arbiters. Though the narrative occasionally prioritizes humor over depth, the book remains a standout in sports literature—a must-read for fans of the game and its behind-the-scenes dramas.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Jim Leeke, for providing an advance copy of Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano in exchange for an honest review.
July 31, 2025
Excellent book about a fascinating and important character. One of the best biographies I've read in a long time--and one of the few that tells the story of a major league umpire. I'd highly recommend to any sports fan, but particularly to baseball fans. Well-researched and clearly written. The author has written a number of other books that are worth reading.
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