Charlie Williams (umpire)

Charles Herman Williams

• Height 5' 9", Weight 211 lb.
• High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School

• Born December 20, 1943 in Denver, CO USA
• Died September 11, 2005 in Chicago, IL USA

Biographical Information

Charlie Williams was a major league umpire from 1978, when he began working in the National League to 2001, by which time he was part of the consolidated major league umpiring staff. He was the first black home plate umpire in a World Series game and was behind the plate for the longest Series game (at the time), Game 4 of the 1993 World Series.

He joined the National League just after the dismissal of its first African-American umpire, Art Williams, after only five seasons and a bit; Eric Gregg had joined the ranks just before that, and Art Williams had alleged that he had been dismissed not for substandard performance, but because the league wanted to limit the number of minority umpires on its staff. Both Gregg and Charlie Williams had long careers, with Williams having worked 2,810 games by the time he retired.

Related Sites

• Charlie Williams on Retrosheet.org
• Sporting News umpire card