Hurley's passing. Post-retirement Major League career Hurley took a position with the Minnesota Twins as a scout during July and August 1966. In January 1967, Hurley moved over to the Kansas City Athletics organization as Traveling Secretary, where he served as a scout and public relations executive for Athletics' owner Charlie Finley. Hurley and his two colleagues were replaced in the 1966 season by the first black umpire to serve in the American League, Emmett Ashford (age 51) from the Pacific Coast League; Marty Springstead (age 28), whom Hurley had previously mentored, and Jerome (Jerry) Neudecker (age 35) from the Southern League. Springstead and Neudecker each umpired in the American League through 1985. Hurley player and baseball management perspectives Hurley's hometown paper, the Holyoke Transcript, on the occasion of his passing in 1969, reported a few quotes from previous interviews with Hurley over the years. While Hurley respected his bosses, umpire-in-chief Cal Hubbard and A.L. President Joe Cronin, he did not fear them. According to the Transcript report, "He could tell them off as easily as he could read out a ballplayer. That was the Hurley trademark, fearless under fire." Hurley said Joe DiMaggio was the greatest ballplayer he ever observed. He thought that Ted Williams was the best hitter, and Hurley had great respect for Williams' disposition at the plate. According to Hurley in the 1969 Holyoke Transcript report, "He would never look back at an umpire, no matter what you called. You could call a strike in the dirt and Williams wouldn't turn around.''" Family Ed Hurley married Eileen Mulvihill on February 27, 1933. They had three children, Edwin Henry Hurley Jr., Mary Ellen (Doyle) and Anne Marie (Sullivan). Hurley died in Boston at 61 on November 12, 1969. References External links The Sporting News umpire card MLB.com MLB Umpires All Time Roster RetroSheet: Eddie Hurley Ejection History Wikipedia Major League Baseball umpiring records 1908 births 1969 deaths Baseball people from Massachusetts Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Holyoke, Massachusetts