Gore, Artie (1982)
Artie Gore, who signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1927 and was immediately assigned to Portland of the New England League under Manager Duffy Lewis, returns to the Forest City with considerably more fanfare.
The Mirror Lake, N.H., resident and 12-year National League umpire has been added to the Maine Baseball Hal! of Fame.
Gore also played with NEL clubs Nashua, N.H., and Lowell, Mass., and briefly with Durham, N.D., of the Piedmont League and Jersey City of the International League. Shortstop service in the old Cape Cod League in the early ’30s led to friendships with fellow campaigners Red Rolfe, Blondy Ryan and Maine Hall of Famer Jack Burns.
Gore switched to umpiring in 1936. He spent two years in the Canadian American League, four in both the Eastern and International Leagues. He “‘called ’em’” in the 1945 Little World Series.
Major League umpiring duties embraced senior circuit toil from 1947 through 1956. The articulate Gore worked the 751 and 753 World Series and the “49 and 56 All-Star games.
He was president of the Eastern Massachusetts Basketball Officials in 41 and officiated 19 years of high school, college, and pro basketball.
Gore made news at birth. One of triplets, he was born to William A. and Margaret Gore of Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 13, 1907. Irene and John died at age Gore will be renewing acquaintances with, among others, Clyde Sukeforth, Waldoboro, Sid Graves, Kennebunk, and William (Doc) Doherty, Portland, Maine Hall of Famers, and longtime friend Bill Cullinan, Cape Elizabeth.
From An Umpire’s Gift From the Heart
Posted by athomeatfenway on February 24, 2012
From Wikipedia
Arthur Joseph Gore (November 13, 1907 – September 29, 1986) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1947 to 1956. Gore umpired 1,464 major league games in his 10-year career. He umpired in two World Series and two All-Star Games. Gore played minor league baseball in 1928 and 1929 as a shortstop.
The heart is very much at the center of this story.
In 1949, a 12 year old boy living with his family on Slade Street in Belmont lost his Mom to a sudden stroke. To protect his privacy, I’ll call this boy Little Johnny.
Little Johnny also suffered from polio. His Mom was gone. His Dad was not around. If ever there was a challenging start to adolescence, this was it.
Mildred (nee Flaherty) Gore would throw open a window on the front side of her Slade Street home when her husband, Artie, the National League Umpire, had a night game. She would lean out the window and call into the afternoon air, “Kids ! Play further down the street. Artie has a night game and he’s trying to catch a nap !”
The kids complied. They liked the affable Artie. He was known to walk his 5’9”, 170 pound frame up Slade Street with pockets full of game used, official National League Ford Frick baseballs, handing them out to the neighborhood kids.
Gore was down to earth. He paid his dues to get to the Majors, spending 10 years in the bushes. After MLB unceremoniously ejected Artie from the game after 10 Big League seasons, he became a New Hampshire Sheriff, a working man’s job if ever there was one. He is buried in Wolfeboro today.
Artie Gore took a liking to Little Johnnie. To raise his spirits, the Umpire began to pass official game balls into the dug outs, getting the players to sign them. In all, Gore gifted Johnnie 8 baseballs, including a team signed ’52 Dodgers ball; a team signed ‘51 Yankees ball; a team signed ’50 Red Sox ball including Harry Agganis; another signed by Ralph Kiner and his wife, tennis star Nancy Chaffee; one personalized single signed Joe DiMaggio ball; a team signed ’51 NY Giants ball; another signed by Gore himself and Umpire Scotty Rabb only; plus one unsigned official N.L. game ball with the stamp of William Harridge, the heartless man who fired Gore in 1956 for being too old at age 49.
Artie & Millie would eventually move to Lexington, the same town where the early shots of the Revolution were fired.
He left behind a grateful boy, who grew strong and served his country as a Green Beret, and today works as a State Marshall, casting off any presumptions about the limitations one should have about a 73-year-old man.
National League umpire Artie Gore is shown during the latter years of his career, 1954. Though he started his baseball career as a shortstop in the New England League, Gore switched to umpiring shortly afterward. Don Wingfield photographer's stamp, "Artie Gore, N.L. Umpire" hand written in blue pen, Sporting News Collection
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