Birthday profile

Don Denkinger

Don Denkinger, American baseball player and umpire (died 2023)

Born
August 28, 1936
Age in 2026
90
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1936

About Don Denkinger

Donald Anton Denkinger was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1969 to 1998. Denkinger wore uniform number 11, when the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980. He is best remembered for an incorrect safe call he made at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, which came to be known as The Call. Denkinger was the second base umpire for Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981, and the first base umpire for Kenny Rogers' perfect game on July 28, 1994. Denkinger was the first base umpire in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. In 1975, Denkinger was one of the first American League umpires to switch from the outside chest protector to the inside chest protector, which was used in the National League for decades before finally being adopted in the AL in the late 1970s.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Don Denkinger timeline

  1. In 1975, Denkinger was one of the first American League umpires to switch from the outside chest protector to the inside chest protector, which was used in the National League for decades before finally being adopted in the AL in the late 1970s.
  2. Denkinger wore uniform number 11, when the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980.
  3. Denkinger was the second base umpire for Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981, and the first base umpire for Kenny Rogers' perfect game on July 28, 1994.
  4. Denkinger was the first base umpire in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series.

The world when Don Denkinger was born

Don Denkinger was born in 1936. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1936

  • #1 song"The Way You Look Tonight" – Fred Astaire
  • Top movieModern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Top TV showBBC Television Service launches
  • Best-selling bookGone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Berlin Olympics
  • Top headlineJesse Owens dominates the Berlin Olympics
  • Technology milestoneBBC launches the world's first regular television service
  • Defining fadSwing dancing
  • Notable inventionSun glasses (mass-produced)
  • World population2.26 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.1M

1936 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Don Denkinger's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19362026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, The Baseball Cube. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.