Baseball umpires are indispensable people and personify the integrity of the professional game. When it was an amateur sport played by gentleman, the umpire also was a distinguished looking gentleman, resplendent in top hat, Prince Albert coat, and cane, who stood, kneeled, or sat on a stool in foul territory along the first base line. They were volunteers who received no payment except the “honour” of being chosen “the sole judge of fair and unfair play.” After the Civil War, the professionalization of baseball led to professional umpires. In 1882, a new professional circuit, the American Association, pioneered the creation of an umpiring staff. They were hired, paid, and assigned to games by the league itself. They were required to wear blue flannel coats and caps while working games. They next year, the National League adopted its own permanent, paid and uniformed staff, thus completing the professionalization of major league “men in blue.”