Baseball Shorts: Ear Syphillis

In today’s episode of Baseball Shorts, we pay attention to an aliment from which only umpires are suffering: Ear Syphillis

Ear Syphillis is a condition in which umpires are overly sensitive for remarks from players, managers, and fans. Even this bad that it affects his performance behind home plate.

A good example of an umpire with Ear Syphillis was Red Jones, an MLB umpire from the 1940s. After seven years in the minors, he was promoted to the Bigs. The story goes that during a 1946 game at Fenway Park, Jones was behind the plate when he received heckling from the Chicago White Sox bench. Jones was called a “meathead” and someone made “whoopee-cushion noises”. Unable to pinpoint the wrongdoers, Jones ejected fourteen (!) from the Chicago bench.

Jones heard everything and because of that, he couldn’t concentrate on the game. He was bothered by Ear Syphillis so much, that eventually, MLB released him after six years.