Standing the Gaff

We all know the accomplishments of Baltimore's Cal Ripken, but he would have had to have played for a lot more years to accomplish the true ironman feat of umpire Harry Steamboat"" Johnson who in the Southern League totaled more than 27 seasons (4400 games) without missing a single assignment. Johnson umpired for a total of 37 consecutive seasons, 1910 - 1946, and more than 5700 games."" - Larry Gerlach, from the introduction ""Legendary minor league umpire Harry ""Steamboat"" Johnson's autobiography, Standing the Gaff, was published in 1935. The legend is that he would stand outside the ballpark selling copies to fans before the game; then during the game, when he made a bad call, they would literally throw his book at him. He didn't care - he'd pick up the books and after the game sell them all over again."" - Ken Kaiser, author of Planet of the Umps