Everything from Babe Ruth's called shot to Josh Gibson's 500-foot bomb to Curt Schilling's bloody sock. Players and fans alike know stories of Shoeless Joe and Dizzy Dean like Christians know Cain and Abel.
There are hundreds of players and coaches who are forever part of this mythology. For umpires though, there is one ump who stands alone in the "larger than life" category: Bill Klem.
Klem, who umpired from 1905 to 1941, has a resume that rivals Babe Ruth and Ted Williams' stat sheets. He worked 18 World Series' (the most all-time, the next best has 10) he was the oldest umpire in history, behind the plate until age 67, and called balls and strikes for five n0-hitters.
The only thing outweighing his achievements is the never-ending mythology (as well as true stories) regarding Klem.
He is known for modernizing umpiring, creating the rule that umpires must stand in "the slot" between the catcher and batter to ensure a better view of the plate. He is also known for famous confrontations, including ejecting players or managers if they crossed a line drawn in the dirt called "the Rio Grande." Unsuprisingly, Klem is the all-time leader in ejections.
Klem was unendearingly referred to by players as "Catfish," which serves an accurate visual of his mug. He is once said to have thrown a player out of a game for drawing a fish in the infield. Like all great folklore, the drawn fish gets bigger each time the story is told.
Like those of Shoeless Joe or the Babe, it is impossible to determine which stories about Klem are embellished. It is best to just enjoy them.
The most famous sure-fire myth about Klem is that he invented hand signals for umpires. Klem's self-made myth even appears on his plaque in the Hall of Fame as well as on the Wikipedia page dedicated to him.
Many in the deaf community have pushed for the induction of the real inventor of signals, Dummy Hoy. Hoy, a deaf turn-of-the-century outfielder, used ball and strike signals with a third base coach as early as 1886.
Three years ago, this his long-argued controversy drew the interest of Rochester production company Crystal Pix director/producer Don Casper. Casper started researching Klem and Hoy and became enamored with the story.
A few weeks ago, Casper finished his docu-drama Signs of the Time, which chronicles the controversy and explores the character of Bill Klem.
Crystal Pix's "labor of love," as Casper calls it, explores Klem's role in turning umpiring into a profession. "Umpires were not treated very well back then," Casper said. "Bill Klem was instrumental in the way umpires are viewed now."
Signs of the Time infuses as well as explains Klem's immortality. Casper uses clips of his famous interview (the one where he claimed to have "invented" taking credit for inventing signs), but also features former American League umpire Jim Evans to explain Klem's impact on the modern game.
"We would create little dramatic scenes that play out, that give you a window into who they (Klem and Hoy) were," Casper said.
The picture, which is narrated by Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfus, also utilizes first-hand accounts from players who stood in front of -and were ejected by- Bill Klem. The who's-who list of guest speakers includes Hall of Famer Bob Feller, Bill Werber and Danny Litwhiler.
Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson and Fred Lynn also offer input on Klem's long lasting effects on umpiring.
Watching this film, to a baseball geek, will be like American Graffiti is to a car guy. It transcends the beauty of the oral tradition of story telling in baseball through Bill Klem, while using the backdrop of the ball-and-strike signs controversy as a stage for Klem's story to be told.
Signs of the Time was featured at RIT's Deaf Film Festival and is likely to appear at more film festivals around the country. I have - and all baseball fans should - joined the mailing list at signsofthetimemovie.com to watch a trailor and find out when the film will be played.
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