Setting a trail
Bernice Gera
Today marks the 54th anniversary for the debut of Bernice Gera as the first female umpire in pro baseball.
Gera, a 39-year-old homemaker originally from Indiana County, Pa., successfully completes umpire school and a signs contract to work in the short-season, Class A New York-Penn League.
She works her first game on the bases during the opener of a doubleheader between the Geneva Rangers and Auburn Phillies in upstate New York.
Her debut is a memorable one, too, as she ejects Auburn manager Nolan Campbell in the fourth inning.
Bernice Gera introduces herself to Nolan Campbell
One game, though, is enough for Gera, who already is facing considerable resentment from other umpires for her trailblazing achievement.
She resigns in protest before the second game of the doubleheader after fellow umpire Doug Hartmayer refuses to come to her aid during her heated argument with Campbell in the first game.
Gera never again umpires in affiliated baseball.
She would die in 1992 of kidney cancer.
Today, her uniform and pink whiskbroom may be found at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. – two hours east of where Gera umpires her one and only pro game in Geneva.
“Baseball has fought me for years,” Gera says shortly after walking away from the game. “In my heart, I feel they have truly gone out of their way to hurt me because I am a woman.
“People have been calling me a quitter, but if I was a quitter I never would have fought it so long. … In a way, they succeeded in getting rid of me, but in a way I’ve succeeded too. I’ve broken the barrier. It can be done. I don’t care what people say now. People haven’t gone through what I’ve gone through. You have to experience it to understand it.”
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