Remembering a baseball great behind the plate

Keepsake brings home lifelong memories for fan

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Susan Whitney-Wilkerson⁄The Gazette Sitting Monday in his Garrett Park home with an encased collection of 11 baseballs signed by baseball greats and a copy of the book he wrote about Baseball Hall of Fame umpire Bill McGowan, Bob Luke recalls some of the more ‘‘colorful” moments in McGowan’s professional career, moments that have lasted for decades and inspired two magazine articles in addition to the book.

McGowan, a diabetic, was propped up on pillows in his Silver Spring home. He handed Luke a baseball signed by himself, as well as baseball greats like Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Ted Williams and Washington Senators player Eddie Yost, obtained while McGowan was umpiring in the major leagues.

‘‘He said, ‘Someday, kid, you can sell this at a church bazaar for a hundred bucks,’ ” said Luke, 64, who now lives in Garrett Park.

There was no way Luke, a lifelong baseball fan who idolized McGowan, was going to sell that ball.

Luke’s love of the game and devotion to McGowan motivated him to write two magazine articles, then a book, titled ‘‘Dean of Umpires: A Biography of Bill McGowan, 1896-1954.” The book was published in June.

McGowan was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He worked as an umpire for 30 years.

As a teen, Luke lived next door to McGowan on Walden Road in Silver Spring. He and his siblings would often go to McGowan’s house to watch baseball. McGowan also introduced Luke to Washington Senators center fielder Jim Busby, who sometimes drove Luke to games at Griffith Stadium in the District, where the Senators played.

McGowan ‘‘was a colorful umpire who would break the rules,” Luke said. ‘‘He would call a ball a strike” if a player was irritating him. Then, before players’ and umpires’ unions, there were few regulations. The umpire’s job was to control the game.

In fact, Luke said, when one player came back from Pearl Harbor after World War II, ‘‘the first time he was at bat, McGowan gave him a free pass [and walked him].”

The pitcher got upset, Luke said, but McGowan explained that the man was a recent veteran, it was his first time at bat and he was getting on base.

Despite his sometimes aggressive style, McGowan was regarded as one of the best umpires at calling balls and strikes, Luke said. He officiated in eight World Series and five all-star games.

Luke said he enjoyed learning about McGowan’s career by doing research at the Library of Congress and interviewing friends and family, including his son, Bill McGowan Jr.

‘‘I think it’s been wonderful to watch his interest grow in to something real,” said Luke’s wife, Judith Wentworth. ‘‘McGowan really made baseball come alive for [him].”

Luke retired in 2003 — he worked in training education with the federal judiciary — and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his newfound free time, Wentworth said. ‘‘I think retirement can be a difficult transition for people. Bob didn’t have that issue at all.”

Wentworth, though not a big fan of baseball, appreciates what the sport means to Luke. ‘‘Baseball is what young boys in our culture grow up doing,” she said.

Luke, who played center field for Montgomery Blair High School, said he likes baseball for its nostalgia and its timelessness.

‘‘I could go with my father and my grandfather,” he said. ‘‘In many ways, the game hasn’t changed over the years. Everyone would know what was going on.”

In his home, Luke preserves some pieces of the past. He has several signed baseballs in plastic, protective cases that he keeps on a shelf. They boast the signatures of people like former umpire Jim Evans, who wrote the forward to his book. Another ball, signed by men who played for the Washington Senators in the 1940s and 1950s, sits near the one autographed by McGowan years ago, where his memory still lives.

‘‘You get a little piece of the person when they sign the ball,” Luke said.