Satch Davidson

David Leroy Davidson
(Satch)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 215 lb.
• School Wilmington College (OH)

• Born January 18, 1936 in London, OH USA
• Died August 21, 2010 in Houston, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

After a brief minor league playing career, Satch Davidson spent sixteen years as a National League umpire.

Davidson caught 2 games for the 1961 Columbus Jets, going 0 for 3. He began his umpiring career in the New York-Penn League in 1966 and moved up to the Eastern League in 1967 and 1968. He became a National League umpire in 1969. During his NL career, he was behind the plate when Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run to break Babe Ruth's mark, as well as when Carlton Fisk hit his memorable homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. He also worked the 1976 All-Star Game and the 1982 World Series as well as five no-hitters. Two of the no-hitters were back-to-back, by Jim Maloney and Don Wilson, on April 30 and May 1, 1969.

In the offseasons he worked as a police officer in his native London, OH and officiated college basketball games. He retired in 1984 because of a bad back and died in Houston, TX in 2010.

Further Reading

• Satch Davidson (as told to Al Doyle): "The Game I'll Never Forget", Baseball Digest, October 2005, pp. 66-68 [1]

Related Sites

• Satch Davidson on Retrosheet.org
• Sporting News umpire card
• Obituary from USA Today