William Aloysius McGowan (January 18, 1896 – December 9, 1954) was an American umpire

Umpire (baseball)

In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...

 in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 who worked in the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 from 1925 to 1954. During his career, he umpired in eight World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

: 1928

1928 World Series

In the 1928 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Along with , this was the first time a team had swept consecutive Series....

, 1931

1931 World Series

In the 1931 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Athletics in seven games, a rematch and reversal of fortunes of the 1930 World Series.The same two teams faced off during the 1930 World Series and the Athletics were victorious...

, 1935

1935 World Series

The 1935 World Series featured the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, with the Tigers winning in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances. They had lost in , , , and ....

, 1939

1939 World Series

The 1939 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds, who were making their first Series appearance since the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. The Yankees swept the Series in four games for the second time in a row, winning their record...

, 1941

1941 World Series

The 1941 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall....

, 1944

1944 World Series

-Game 1:Wednesday, October 4, 1944 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, MissouriGeorge McQuinn hit the Brown's only home run of the series to put his team ahead in the fourth inning, while Denny Galehouse outpitched World Series veteran Mort Cooper to hold on for the win.-Game 2:Thursday, October 5,...

, 1947

1947 World Series

The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning the Series in seven games for their first title since , and the eleventh championship in team history...

, and 1950

1950 World Series

The 1950 World Series was the 47th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the New York Yankees, as 1950 American League champions, competed to win a best-of-seven...

.

McGowan was born and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

. He died at age 58 at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

, two days after suffering a heart attack. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

External links

• BaseballLibrary.com biography
• Retrosheet
• Bill McGowan at Find a Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...