Bill Finneran

William Francis Finneran

• Height 6' ½", Weight 200 lb.

• Born January 12, 1878 in Erie, PA USA
• Died July 30, 1961 in Erie, PA USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Bill Finnernan was a National League umpire who may be most notable for a couple of incidents. On July 10, 1911, Sherry Magee knocked him out with one punch, after Finneran had ejected Magee from the game for disputing a called third strike. On August 10, 1912, Johnny Evers pushed Finneran after Finneran challenged Evers, Heinie Zimmerman, and Frank Chance to fight him under the stands after the game. In addition to those two years, he worked in the Federal League in 1915 and was back in the NL in 1923.

He had begun working as an umpire in the Interstate League in 1905. He was in the Eastern League in 1906, the Tri-State League in 1907-1908 and back in the Eastern League in 1909-1910. In 1913 and 1914, he was in the International League. After the demise of the Federal League, he found himself in the Northwestern League in 1916 and 1917, the I.L. at the end of 1917 and 1918, then the American Association in 1919. He continued umpiring at the highest level of the minors until 1931.

Related Sites

• Bill Finneran on Retrosheet.org
• Sporting News umpire card