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151:. He entered minor league baseball, but suffered a career-ending elbow injury. He was umpiring local recreational baseball in Bakersfield when a former scout for the San Francisco Giants encouraged him to attend umpire school. He attended umpire school in 1969 and then began umpiring in the minor leagues.
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on March 21, 1973. He was assigned to the postseason once, working the 1975 National League
Championship Series. He was fired after the 1977 season, having worked 806 games in six MLB seasons. He remained the only black NL umpire in his last season. At a hearing a few months after his firing, he
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Williams drove a bus in
Bakersfield until he suffered a seizure in the fall of 1978. He underwent brain surgery and was in a coma for six weeks until his death on February 8, 1979.
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126:(NL) from 1972 to 1977, and was the first African-American umpire in the NL, wearing number 25 during his career. Williams umpired 806
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claimed that his dismissal may have been motivated by racism. He said that, with the planned promotion of umpire
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Williams became the first black umpire in the NL when he worked 19 games at the end of the
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This biographical article relating to an
American baseball umpire is a
239:"Williams May Become First Black Umpire in National League"
130:(MLB) games in his six-year career. He also umpired in the
115:(February 24, 1934 – February 8, 1979) was a professional
264:"Black Umpire Is Appointed To National League's Staff,"
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147:Art Williams had pitched high school baseball in
307:"Umpire Ashford Calls 'Em Just as He Sees 'Em"
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174:was still pending at the time of his death.
495:20th-century African-American sportspeople
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490:Sportspeople from Bakersfield, California
132:1975 National League Championship Series
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172:Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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460:African-American referees and umpires
208:List of Major League Baseball umpires
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16:American baseball umpire (1934–1979)
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268:(AP), Wednesday, March 21, 1973.
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505:American baseball umpire stubs
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470:Major League Baseball umpires
365:The Sporting News umpire card
243:Daytona Beach Morning Journal
485:People from Camden, Arkansas
403:. You can help Knowledge by
270:Retrieved November 29, 2020
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480:Sportspeople from Arkansas
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475:National League umpires
281:"Umpire Alleges Racism"
149:Bakersfield, California
77:Bakersfield, California
65:Bakersfield, California
285:The Milwaukee Journal
128:Major League Baseball
266:The Associated Press
163:International League
287:. February 15, 1978
342:. February 8, 1979
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59:(1979-02-08)
23:Art Williams
465:Bus drivers
455:1979 deaths
450:1934 births
156:1972 season
444:Categories
311:Daily News
227:Retrosheet
214:References
168:Eric Gregg
83:Occupation
39:1934-02-24
138:Biography
96:1972–1977
186:See also
160:Triple-A
117:baseball
101:Employer
143:Career
120:umpire
87:Umpire
178:Death
401:stub
348:2013
319:2013
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251:2013
54:Died
29:Born
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