# Terry Tata

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**Terry Anthony Tata** (born April 24, 1940) is an American former [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB) [umpire](/source/Umpire_(baseball)). His MLB career began when the [National League](/source/National_League_(baseball)) purchased his contract from the [Triple-A](/source/Triple-A_(baseball)) [International League](/source/International_League) on March 21, 1973.[1] It ended in 1999.

## Career

During his career, Tata officiated four [World Series](/source/World_Series), seven [National League Championship Series](/source/National_League_Championship_Series) and three [All-Star](/source/MLB_All-Star_Game) games. He also officiated in five [no-hitters](/source/No-hitter), including being the home plate umpire for two: [Phil Niekro](/source/Phil_Niekro)'s on August 5, 1973 [2] and [Tom Seaver](/source/Tom_Seaver)'s on June 16, 1978.[3] Tata wore uniform number 19 for most of his career.

Tata appeared on the television program *[What's My Line?](/source/What's_My_Line%3F)* on June 11, 1961, where he was presented as being the youngest umpire in "organized baseball." He was 21 years old at the time and stated that he worked in the [Northern League](/source/Northern_League_(baseball,_1902%E2%80%9371)) which incorporated, he said on the program, "Minnesota, the Dakotas, Canada, and Wisconsin." The panelists were able to discern his occupation.

## Personal life

Tata is married to his wife Janice, and they live in [Cheshire, Connecticut](/source/Cheshire,_Connecticut).[4]

On June 22, 1993, Tata was drugged and robbed in his room in [Burlingame, California](/source/Burlingame,_California). After working second base in that evening’s game between the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants at [Candlestick Park](/source/Candlestick_Park), he invited a woman up to his room for a drink. She slipped a tranquilizer into his glass and made off with a Rolex watch, a gold bracelet, two World Series rings, and $500 in cash.[5]

## See also

- [List of Major League Baseball umpires (disambiguation)](/source/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_umpires_(disambiguation))

## References

1. ["Black Umpire Is Appointed To National League's Staff," *The Associated Press* (AP), Wednesday, March 21, 1973.](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/22/archives/black-umpire-is-appointed-to-national-leagues-staff.html) Retrieved November 29, 2020

1. ["Retrosheet Boxscore: Atlanta Braves 9, San Diego Padres 0"](https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1973/B08050ATL1973.htm)

1. ["Retrosheet Boxscore: Cincinnati Reds 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0"](https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B06160CIN1978.htm)

1. Harrison, Don (29 April 2011). ["'What's My Line?' Tata Didn't Fool Panel"](https://patch.com/connecticut/naugatuck/whats-my-line-tata-didnt-fool-panel). *patch.com*. Patch Media. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

1. ["Terry Tata: NL Umpire for 27 years, 4 WS, 7 NLCS, 3 ASG"](https://www.baseballamore.com/tatat/). *baseballamore.com*. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

## External links

- [Terry Tata](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2339614/) at IMDb Retrieved on 2013-10-15
- [Retrosheet.org](https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/T/Ptatat901.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Terry Tata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Tata) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Tata?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.