SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Wittenberg University's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) welcomes former major league baseball umpire and best-selling author Dave Pallone to campus for a presentation titled, "Who's Really on First," at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the HPER Center. The third-youngest umpire in professional baseball history, Pallone's presentation is based on his autobiography, Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball, which chronicles his experiences in baseball as a gay man.
The presentation is co-sponsored by Wittenberg's Gay-Straight Alliance, the Womyn's Center and SAAC as part of the on-going CHAMPS/Life Skills Program, which is funded on this and many other campuses by the NCAA. The CHAMPS/Life Skills Program was created in 1991 to support the student development initiatives of the NCAA's member institutions and to enhance the quality of the student-athlete experience within the university setting.
Pallone wrote his autobiography in 1990 and since has given more than 700 interviews for television, radio and print media. In recent years, he has hosted his own sports talk radio show in Boston, Mass., has contributed feature articles to USA Today, among other publications, and has served as a keynote speaker at conferences, working toward bringing sexual orientation sensitivity to hundreds of college campuses.
Pallone was once called the "most hated" person in the major leagues. He joined major league baseball during an umpire's strike in 1979, and he was subjected to death threats after a physical confrontation on the field with Cincinnati Reds Manager Pete Rose in 1988. Then, even after an investigation into a teen sex ring cleared him of any involvement, he was fired for "unprofessional" behavior, which he claims involved just one thing - his sexual orientation.
04-04 Sports
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