About Dolly Stark (umpire)
Albert D. "Dolly" Stark (November 4, 1897 – August 24, 1968) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1928 to 1935 and from 1937 to 1940. Stark was the first Jewish umpire in modern baseball. == Early life == Stark was born to a working-class Jewish family in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Stark's father died when he was young and his mother became blind, and Stark was taken into a home for homeless children after being found sleeping on the street by a policeman. After leaving the home, Stark attempted to earn money for his family through playing baseball, and was nicknamed "Dolly" in a reference to Monroe "Dolly" Stark, an unrelated player for the Brooklyn Superbas. He was childhood friends with future Major League player Al Schacht. Stark played second base for several semipro and minor league teams, including the Newark Bears, Kitchener Beavers, Dallas Submarines and Jersey City Skeeters. He attended tryouts for the New York Yankees and Washington Senators, but failed both, in part due to his weight of only 115 pounds (52 kg). Clyde Engle was the athletic director at the University of Vermont in 1921 when the baseball team needed an umpire for the season. Engle wrote his friend Stark and invited him to take the position.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.