Another Liberation Day

The Trump administration recently proclaimed “Liberation Day” in relation to tariffs and trade. However, I came across another liberation this week that I count just as significant, especially now that baseball season has begun. I’m referring to the liberation of the famed baseball umpire, August Joseph Donatelli.

Growing up in New York, I remember Augie Donatelli and his work behind home plate during Mets games. Donatelli officiated in the National League from the 1950s through 1973. He umpired in five World Series (1955, 1957, 1961, 1967, 1973) and four All-Star Games (1953, 1959, 1962, 1969). He also established the Major League Umpires Association, the first union for professional umpires. He even appeared on the cover of the first issue of Sports Illustrated, pictured behind the plate at a Milwaukee Braves game.

Additionally, Donatelli called balls and strikes for no fewer than four no-hitters, including one by Bob Moose of the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Mets at Shea Stadium on September 20, 1969. I remember that game well, as I was there with my dad.

Donatelli may be best remembered for his controversial call during the tenth inning of Game 2 in the 1973 World Series in Oakland, California, between the Mets and the Oakland A’s. He called Bud Harrelson of the Mets out after being tagged by A’s catcher, Ray Fosse. To position himself for the throw coming in from left field, Donatelli lay on the ground to get a better view of the tag (or non-tag).

Of course, this happened before the advent of instant replay and managers’ ability to call for a Replay Review. Who knows what the replay might have revealed? Perhaps Harrelson was safe. Augie’s son, who was in military school at the time, faced hazing because of the call. It was a heartbreaker. Personally, I can tell you that Harrelson was my favorite shortstop. The A’s went on to defeat the Mets in seven games.

The thing about Augie, as with many men from that era, is that he led an extraordinary life beyond baseball. He drew upon those life experiences to shape his work as a major league umpire. Augie served as a tail gunner on B-17s during World War II. During his service, he was shot down over Berlin, spent time in a German POW camp, and was ultimately liberated by the Russians in April 1945—eighty years ago.

The quote below is taken from an X post where he briefly recounts that experience. For a fuller read of that incident and Donatelli’s remarkable life, refer to his entry on the Society for American Baseball Research‘s website.

I served in the Air Force, went into combat in October 1943 and flew 18 missions as a tail gunner on a B-17. We were shot down before the D-Day invasion, on the first daylight bomber raid on Berlin, March 6, 1944. That day 68 bombers were shot down. We got hit, so the crew bailed out and I broke my ankle.  I got captured and taken to Frankfurt. I spent about 15 months in prison camps. We changed camps three times; the Germans kept moving us around so the Russians couldn’t liberate us. They took us to Stettin, a port on the North Sea, and crammed us into the hold of a ship for two days. There must have been 2,500 of us in there, hot as hell, no water, no toilet. You had to go on deck to take a leak, but no way you could have a bowel movement. When they took us off the ship, they chained two guys together at the wrists and ran us about three miles to Stalag Luft VI. Another prisoner and I escaped and were on the run 10 days before locals turned us in. The penalty for escaping was to work for a week cutting timber for fortifications, digging trenches and burial pits and stuff like that. The burial pits were for the Russians, who didn’t get a military burial like the Allies under the Geneva Convention; they were just dumped into the pit. After about three months, the Russians liberated us in April 1945.

August Joseph “Augie” Donatelli

Quote taken with many thanks from Jim Koenigsberger on X. Image credits: Cook aynne; Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22655745. Want more? Go to Robert Brancatelli. The Brancatelli Blog is a member of The Free Media Alliance, which promotes “alternatives to software, culture, and hardware monopolies.”