Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 28 - Bill Klem

    Bill Klem umpired in the National League from 1905 through 1941. There are way too many umpires in the Hall of Fame, and although there really shouldn't be any umpires in Cooperstown, Klem stands out from the rest. 

    Klem umpired for 37 years and did have his accomplishments. He was the first umpire to wear an inside chest protector, and held five records through 2020, four of which still stand: The most career games umpired (5,375; surpassed on May 25 by Joe West), the most career games umpired behind the plate (3,548), the most World Series umpired (18), and the most career World Series games umpired (108). Unfortunately, his fifth record is for the most career ejections (251). Klem himself said "The best umpired game is the game in which the fans cannot recall the umpires who worked it." Well, if you average almost seven ejections a year for almost 40 years (including one in which he ejected 24 players at once), then fans will recall who you are. Additionally, the whole point of being inducted into the Hall of Fame is so that fans in all future generations might recall who you were. 

    Klem was not your typical umpire. He set a lot of bad example, and people look up to Hall of Famers as demonstrating good example (you know, character, sportsmanship, integrity, as it says in the criteria). For instance, Klem once said, "To me, baseball is not a game, but a religion." This is not something that you would want your children repeating, if you think about it. The main reason for my questioning Klem's induction lies in the fact that he hit Roger Bresnahan (himself a Hall of Famer) in 1911, which is completely out of line, especially for someone in a position of authority like an umpire. He was fined $50 for that performance, a fortune in 1911. 

My opinion: Bill Klem is not a Hall of Famer.