Emmett Littleton Ashford (November 23, 1914 – March 1, 1980), nicknamed Ash, was the first African American umpire in Major League Baseball, working in the American League from 1966 to 1970. Early life Ashford was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Littleton, was a policeman, but abandoned the family, leaving Ashford's mother Adele to raise Emmett and his brother Wilbur. Ashford earned money selling Liberty magazine, and as a cashier in a supermarket. Ashford attended Jefferson High School, and was co-editor of the school paper, played baseball and track, and was the senior class president. Ashford attended Los Angeles Junior College. He graduated from Chapman University in 1941. In about 1936, Ashford took a job as a post office clerk, a position he held for 15 years. In the late 1930s, Ashford briefly attempted to play semipro baseball, but turned to umpiring when he was asked to fill in for an umpire who did not show up to a game. Ashford served in the Navy during World War II, and was inspired to become the first black major league umpire while stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, when an announcement came on the radio that Jackie Robinson had broken baseball's color barrier. Early career In 1951, Ashford took a leave of absence from his Santa Ana, California post office job, where he moonlighted as a Santa Ana municipal league softball and National Night Ball League of Southern California umpire. His colorful style included a personal trademark: when a batter received a base-on-balls, instead of simply calling "Ball Four," Ashford would grandly intone, "Ball Fo-uh, you may proceed to first base." He left Santa Ana to umpire in the Southwestern International League, becoming the first black umpire in the traditionally white professional baseball system. When he was offered a full-season umpiring job, Ashford resigned from the postal service. After the Southwestern International League folded mid-season, Ashford joined the Arizona–Texas League. He moved on to the Western International League in 1953, and was promoted to the Pacific Coast League in 1954. He worked with Cece Carlucci as his crew chief for 922 games. Ashford spent 12 years in the PCL, and became known for his exuberance, showmanship and energy, even interacting with the crowd between innings. During the off-seasons, Ashford refereed Pac-8 basketball games and college football. He also umpired in the Caribbean winter leagues, and ran several umpiring clinics. In 1963,