Bill Kunkel

Who was Bill Kunkel?

William Gustave James Kunkel was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1963 who went on to a career as an American League umpire from 1968 until his death. His son Jeff was a major league shortstop from 1984 to 1992.

Kunkel was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. His major league pitching career consisted of two seasons with the Kansas City Athletics and one with the New York Yankees. He officiated in the World Series in 1974 and 1980, and in the American League Championship Series in 1971, 1975, 1978 and 1982. He also worked the All-Star Game in 1972 and 1977, calling balls and strikes for the second contest. He was the first base umpire on September 28, 1974 when Nolan Ryan pitched the third of his record seven no-hitters, and was behind the plate exactly one year later on September 28, 1975 when four Oakland Athletics pitchers – Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers – combined to no-hit the California Angels, 5–0.

Kunkel, who also worked as a referee in the National Basketball Association from 1966 to 1968, died of cancer at age 48 in Red Bank, New Jersey. Kunkel's uniform number 9, assigned when the American League adopted umpire numbers in 1980, was retired after his death until the umpiring staffs were unified in 2000, when it was assigned to Brian Gorman. Kunkel was the last umpire to use the outside chest protector in an American League Championship Series game when he worked Game 2 of the 1982 ALCS. At the time of his death, he was only one of two umpires still using the outside chest protector.