Clarence Eldridge

Clarence Ernest Eldridge
(Dope)

• School University of Michigan

• Born June 24, 1888 in Three Rivers, MI USA
• Died February 7, 1981 in Seminole, FL USA

Biographical Information

Clarence Eldridge worked as an umpire in the Wisconsin-Illinois League. In 1914 and 1915, he umpired a total of 6 games in the American League in 1914 and 1915. He was a practicing lawyer at the time and had previously been a journalist, starting in college and serving as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He had also started umpiring as a side-line in college, working high school, college and professional games. His first minor league gig was in the Southern Association in 1907, at a time when he was serving as sports editor of the newspaper in Little Rock, AR. In 1909, he was in the Southern Michigan League, closer to home, and the Wisconsin-Illinois League in 1910.

As a lawyer, he represented investors of the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League who were opposed to a proposed move of their team to Newark, NJ, while continuing to write opinion pieces on baseball in Chicago newspapers and in the Sporting News. He got his first chance to umpire at the big league level in 1914 when he replaced Bill Dineen who was umpiring a college game at the time. The next year, he filled in for Dom Mullaney when he was recovering from appendicitis. However, he had to chose between going for a full-time umpiring gig and the legal profession, and chose the latter.

After baseball, he had a long and successful career in the advertising industry and was eventually elected to the American advertising industry Hall of Fame. He fist began doing legal work for an automobile manufacturer in 1917 and became fascinated with the industry, moving into marketing and advertising. He then joined the firm of Young & Rubicam, based in New York, NY in 1930 and rose quickly in its ranks, then held a senior position with General Foods in Battle Creek, MI, and ended his professional life as a management consultant. Indeed, his baseball connections were not even mentioned in his obituary when he died in 1981.

Related Sites

• Clarence Eldridge at the SABR Bio Project
• Clarence Eldridge on Retrosheet.org
• Sporting News umpire card