Visit the Baseball History Comes Alive Home Page
Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive
Free Bonus for Subscribing:
Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide
Umpire Chris Pelekoudas Denies Hammerin’ Hank Aaron an Apparent Home Run!
Umpires can’t win for losing! -Anonymous sportswriter
Let’s face it…it’s a thankless job. Even though they play a pivotal role in the game, umpires don’t get a lot of acclamation. And if you asked them, they like it that way. When they’re doing a good job, no one notices them. If their name comes up, it means they’ve either blown a call or they’re involved in a controversial call, even if they got it right!
They really can’t win!
Many of our “senior” readers will recognize the name of Chris Pelekoudas. In spite of being a highly respected umpire with a long career in the major leagues, Pelekoudas is often remembered for one such controversial call.
It happened on August 18, 1965, sixty years ago today. In a game played at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis between the Cards and Braves, home plate umpire Pelekoudas called Hank Aaron (seen above in the 1957 World Series) out after blasting a long home run which landed on top of Sportsman’s pavilion. The arbiter called Hammerin’ Hank out because he stepped out of the batter’s box as he made contact…or so Chris always maintained.
Critics were quick to point out that Cardinals’ catcher Tim McCarver may have influenced Pelekoudas by jumping up and down. If true, that would be a real umpiring “no-no.” In his defense, Chris always denied McCarver had anything to do with his call, as he had specifically warned Aaron about the rules’ infraction on the two previous pitches. He was just following the rules, as a good umpire should.
So he does his job correctly…and he still gets blamed for it!
The Chicago native umpired in the National League for fifteen years (1960-1975). He worked two World Series (1966 and 1972), serving as crew chief in the ’72 Series. He also worked three All-Star games (1961, 1967, and 1975) and two National League Championship Series (1969 and 1973).
Other Notable Career Moments
- Pelekoudas was the home plate umpire when Willie Mays hit four home runs on April 30, 1961
- He was the third base umpire when Sandy Koufax pitched his second no-hitter on May 11, 1963, and was the first base umpire for Koufax’s perfect game on September 9, 1965
- He was the third base umpire for the first game ever held at Shea Stadium, played on April 17, 1964.
- He umpired in a total of six no-hitters.
Chris’s son, Lee Pelekoudas, worked in the Seattle Mariners organization for 30 years, first as the traveling secretary and lastly as interim general manager. Chris Pelekoudas passed away on November 30, 1984, in Sunnyvale, California, aged 66, three weeks after suffering a stroke.
So today, we gladly shine our baseball spotlight on a fine umpire who deserves to be remembered for more than making one controversial call.
We’d love to hear what you think about this or any other related baseball history topic…please leave comments below.
Gary Livacari
Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive. FREE BONUS for subscribing: Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide. https://wp.me/P7a04E-2he
Information: Excerpts edited from the Chris Pelekoudas Wikipedia page
