While watching the Tampa Bay Rays-Boston Red Sox game yesterday afternoon, Red Sox play by play man Dave O'Brien announced the death of former AL umpire Steve Palermo at the age of 67. Palermo died of cancer.
Between 1976 and 1991, Palermo was arguably the best umpire in MLB. Tragically, his career was cut short just before the All-Star Break in 1991 when he was shot in the back while trying coming to the aid of two women who had been attacked outside a Dallas restaurant. The injury paralyzed Palermo from the waist down. Although he would never umpire again, he did learn to walk with the aid of a cane. In 2000, MLB named Palermo as an umpire supervisor serving as a liaison between the Office of the Commissioner and the MLB Umpires Association.
A year after the shooting incident, Palermo made the cover of Sports Illustrated. The story inside is even more compelling. R.I.P.
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