Dallas Parks

Parks worked as an American League umpire until 1982, when Parks resigned (becoming the third replacement umpire to leave the game; Fred Spenn was fired in 1980 and National League umpire Steve Fields was fired in 1981) rather than continue to be subject to the harsh treatment accorded him and the other replacements (referred to as "scabs" by the regular umpires because of crossing the picket lines) and a scathing rebuke of his abilities by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner after a series in August 1982 against the Toronto Blue Jays when Parks ejected Oscar Gamble and Roy Smalley on consecutive days. Steinbrenner said of Parks: "Judging from his last two days performance, my people tell me he is not a capable umpire. For umpire Parks to throw two of our players out of ballgames in two days on plays he misjudges is ludicrous". Steinbrenner went on to refer to Parks as a "scab" and that he "had it in" for the Yankees since he used that term towards the umpire. Parks filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Steinbrenner and the Yankees, Parks won in a lower court but the New York Supreme Court overruled the lower court in 1987, indicating that the First Amendment gave Steinbrenner the right to "razz the umpire", as have generations of fans before and since. He returned to work games during the umpire labor actions in 1991^[3] and 1995 in addition to running two different minor league teams in North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

• List of Major League Baseball umpires (disambiguation)