Ruling over Monarchs, Giants & Stars: Umpiring in the Negro Leagues & Beyond

by Bob Motley

The Kansas City Monarchs. The Chicago American Giants. The St. Louis Stars. The Birmingham Black Barons. The Homestead Grays. The Indianapolis Clowns. For over 50 years, they were the Yankees, Cardinals, and Red Sox of black baseball in America. And for over a decade beginning in the late 1940s, umpire Bob Motley called balls and strikes for many of their games, working alongside such legends as Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays. Today, Motley is the only living arbiter from the Negro Leagues, and "Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants & Stars" is his revealing, humorous memoir, which Ken Burns calls, "An important step in revealing what has been for most Americans a `hidden history.'"

Motley's account of the Negro Leagues is not a sad one; rather, it celebrates a league long lost and salutes a remarkable group of baseball players that captivated audiences with its flashy play. That much was true of Negro League players, but it was also true of the umps. The men in black--not blue--took to diamonds across the country sporting fetching attire, black ties, and shiny dress shoes. Motley took things a step further, entertaining audiences by exaggerating his calls--doing the splits or leaping high in the air while roaring, "YOU'RE O-O-O-U-U-T-T-T!"

Motley saved his greatest opponent--Major League Baseball--for his final his attempt to break the color barrier for umpires. Walter Cronkite calls Bob Motley's story "a fascinating history of the days not so long ago, when courage and perseverance opened baseball, and so many other sports, to all races." Join this esteemed umpire as he proudly bellows, "PLAY BALL!"

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History, Nonfiction

217 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book seems fairly obscure, but it boasts of cover quotes by Ken Burns and Walter Cronkite, as well as some of the biggest experts on Negro Leagues baseball, as well as a foreword by Dionne Warwick.

It shouldn't be. I found this book fascinating. Bob Motley is the last living umpire from the Negro Leagues.

Negro League baseball is still a bit of 'hidden history'. I grew up in the 80s, so I knew Josh Gibson had hit more home runs than Babe Ruth but not much more. Ken Burns's Baseball series is probably the biggest thing to date to illuminate that time, which brought attention to Buck O'Neill and others.

I found this book at the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City and found it interesting, and it was. Motley's story is interesting because it's ordinary and extraordinary. He was a southerner who had a tough childhood, terrorized by the Klan. He moved to the Midwest and experienced a different breed of racism towards blacks in 1940s Ohio. He joined the military, and has some tales to tell there as well. In many ways, a life like no other, but also a life like many others that has gone undocumented.

He gets a job at General Motors, but his real love is baseball. He gets a job as a Negro Leagues Umpire, but only after much determination and being turned around.

Motley is an umpire in the Negro Leagues, through post-integration baseball and towards the league's very end. He wants to umpire in the Major Leagues, but even though he graduated top of his class in umpire school, he gets denied due to racism. He eventually goes to umpire in the pre-Los Angeles Dodgers/SF Giants Pacific Coast League, which was filled with a lot of talented players prior to West Coast MLB.

The book is one I couldn't put down. It's very conversational, but it is also professionally put together, for those who worry about that kind of stuff.

The stories he tells are fascinating. You also get the story of players that he saw first hand and listen to him describe them- some you know (Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, the incomparable Satchell Paige) and some who have been lost to time. When talking negro league baseball, when Jackie Robinson broke into the majors in 1947, many of the great stars were either in their prime or older, so they didn't get that chance. Baseball teams wanting to make that investment wanted players who still had many years left. For example, if you were building a football team for the next decade, you would not invest in Tom Brady or Peyton Manning to be your star players, even if their performance is legendary.

It's cliche, but this would make a great movie. There is so much here- the struggle to survive as a young man, traveling in cramped conditions, often in hostile towns, the legendary play happening in front of Motley, and lastly, Motley himself, who was a showman in his own right. The kind we rarely see.

I recommend this book to all fans of baseball, but I also highly recommend to those who aren't fans of baseball, too. Simply, because it is such a great story.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Besides the stories of his experiences in the Negro Leagues, Bob Motley's entire life story was an awesome story to hear. From the adversity of coming from a poor family with a single mother following the suspicious death of his father (possibly KKK-related) to his struggles with discrimination in the greater white world (especially in the south) and everything else, Bob Motley tells great stories that provide insight into that time's experience in the world for a black man.

[MICHAEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

quick read, but full of insights into a time gone by. It avoids the tough stuff, just mentions the pain of mid 20th century race relations and focuses instead on the efforts of one man to break a color barrier in the umpire ranks. Lots of interesting tales about the big names of Negro Leagues, and a heart warming story told from what is very possibly the best seat in the house.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh what wonderful and hilarious and interesting book! Frankly, I've never thought about the umpires except when I'd thought they made a mistake. I never considered their perspective or there stories or-especially!-what they went through in the Negro Leagues or trying to break the barrier and be umpires in the MLB.


This is a book anyone who is interested in Baseball's history should read.

[C Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, must-read memoir. Makes me wish I had heard of and known about Bob Motley much sooner!

[Tim K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book, great stories, laughed often when reading.

[Mike Barat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried about this book when I noticed there was foreword written by Dionne Warwick, not exactly the first person I think of when I think of baseball. However right away I realized I had nothing to worry about from the first chapter on. There's no storage of stories and books from a players perspective about the negro leagues, his is the only book I know of that gives a perspective of negro leagues from the umpires perspective. And what a perspective it is. Bob Motley grew up having to worry about being killed by the KKK in Alabama, or attacked by a player with a butcher on a bus trip, which really did happen, and he was in WW2 where of course he also could been killed. This book also gives you a look into how racist the American past was, not that there's not a long way to go now. Once on a trip while traveling the KC Monarchs ( Umpires in the negro leagues traveled with one of the teams. ) their bus caught fire and was destroyed, a police officer pulled over and asked what was going on. When the police officer was told that their bus caught fire and was destroyed he said I will call dispatch and get you some help. However the police officer told the dispatcher it was just a bunch of "N" words with a slight problem with their bus. I only touched the surface, just read it and you won't be disappointed.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting biography about Bob Motley works to become African-American Major League Umpire. It provides a different perspective on the Negro Leagues, where he started his career in umpiring in Professional Baseball. He talks about meeting many of the Negro League All-Star players. A book well worth reading by anyone interested in Major League baseball and the history of the Negro leagues