Sunday, July 4, 1999
Percy Reed
Calling games for the very best who played
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Percy Reed, 89, told Enquirer reporter Allen Howard in 1992, that as a Negro League umpire in the 1930s and 1940s, "I saw the very best: Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Rube Foster (founder of the Negro Leagues) to name a few."
Mr. Reed was a small man - 5-foot-3, 100 pounds - and when he umpired behind a big catcher, like Mr. Gibson, "I hung right over his shoulder."
Mr. Reed took no guff.
"I never had to throw anybody out of a game. When they started arguing a call, I would take out my watch. That meant they had one minute to argue. After the one minute, I started the game again."
Negro League Stories
