Cal Drummond 

Calvin Troy Drummond was born on June 2, 1917 in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. Outside the baseball season, he lived his whole life in and around the area. His parents, James and Fannie, were both South Carolina natives, both born circa 1893. Calvin had at least six siblings, five brothers named Theodore, Alvin, John, Peter and Lewis and a sister named Velora. Calvin and Alvin were twins. James Drummond supported his family working at the local cotton mill.

Sports attracted Cal from his earliest ages. He played three sports, baseball, basketball and football, at the local Ninety-Six High School. Cal then played for a local Ninety-Six baseball club in a Textile League from 1937-38. After five years in the infantry during World War II, Drummond rejoined the Textile League with a nearby Greenwood club from 1946-47. 

In 1948, Cal attended Bill McGowan’s Umpire School and was then assigned to the Class-D Alabama State League for the remainder of the season. Drummond left baseball for three years, returning with the Class-D Georgia State League from 1952-53. He then ascended to the Class-A South Atlantic League from 1954-56 and the Triple-A International League from 1957-59. 

In 1960, Drummond landed in the majors, calling American League games until June 10, 1969. In Baltimore that day Drummond worked behind the plate for an Orioles and Angels game. Similar to an on-the-field injury sustained by Mike Powers in 1909, Drummand’s injury wasn’t noticed by the fans, players or even his fellow umpires. No one came to his aid nor was there a break in the action. 

As best as colleague Larry Barnett could recall, Drummond took a foul ball to the mask late in the game. He shook it off at the time and finished the game. In the dressing room Barnett noticed that Drummond was stressed but didn’t fully realize how much so. Barnett and a couple of the other umpires retired to their hotel only to be telephoned by crew chief Ed Runge who had taken Drummond to Mercy Hospital. Runge was particularly alarmed with Drummond’s slurred speech. 

At the hospital, Drummond lost consciousness and remain in that state for over a week. He awoke and felt well enough to fly home to Greenwood, South Carolina on June 22. Drummonds condition, however, worsened over the weekend of the 28th and he was admitted to a nearby Greenville hospital on the 30th. 

On July 1, 1969, Drummond had surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Once again, he failed to regain consciousness, for two weeks this time. Another surgery was performed to ease the pressure on his brain and Drummond did well recuperating through the fall and winter. 

When spring hit, so did baseball fever. Drummond claimed he felt well enough to make a comeback. He contacted American League president Joe Cronin and petitioned for his job. Cronin insisted on a doctor’s release. Drummond exercised and called some games for nearby Erskine College. He then made his way for spring training and worked a dozen major league preseason games. In late April he even threw out the ceremonial first pitch to kick off the hometown Greenville Braves’, of the Single-A Western Carolinas League, season. 

Attaining his doctor’s permission, Drummond talked Cronin into returning him to the bigs. Cronin relented but sent Drummond to umpire two games in the Triple-A American Association before rejoining his American League crew on Sunday May 3 in Boston. 

On Friday May 1, Drummond worked the first two innings of a game in Des Moines between the Iowa Oaks and Oklahoma City 89ers before dizziness forced him to retire from the game. Drummond phoned Cronin on Saturday and assured him that he felt well enough to continue. 

On May 2, Drummond was behind the plate during a night game when he began feeling dizzy again with a general numbness near his previous injury. Some reports suggest that he walked to the Oklahoma dugout feeling ill. Other reports say he was sitting there for three innings. Either way, the umpire passed out in the seventh inning. He did regain semi-consciousness in the dressing room but faded again in the ambulance on the way to Des Moines General Hospital. 

Drummond died there four hours after his arrival in the wee hours of May 3. He was 52 years old. An autopsy confirmed that he died from a cerebral hemorrhage in the area of his June 1969 injury. On May 4, Cal Drummond’s body was flown home to Greenwood to be laid to rest.

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