Bernice Gera

Bernice Shiner Gera (June 15, 1931 – September 23, 1992) was an American baseball umpire. She became the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game in 1972, retiring after one game citing the resentment of other umpires.

Life Born in Ernest, Pennsylvania, as one of five children, Gera loved baseball as a child and grew up playing as an outfielder and umpiring games. She never considered a career in baseball until she was already in her mid-thirties, married, living in Jackson Heights, New York, and working as a secretary.

As umpiring had been a strictly male profession up to that point, the school had no facilities for Gera, and she spent much of the six-week program living in a nearby motel. By several reports, she excelled in her training, yet Gera was rejected by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL), which claimed that she did not meet the physical requirements of the job. Baseball executive Ed Doherty claimed that umpires needed to be 21 to 35 years old, a minimum of tall, and weigh at least , while Gera was 38 years old, , and weighed . New York representative Mario Biaggi represented Gera legally in court and, using Gera's story as inspiration, even introduced an equal rights constitutional amendment to the House of Representatives during his time in Congress. winning an appeal from the Court of Appeals, New York state’s highest court, in a five-to-two decision. Though she was not a member of a women's liberation group, she was a "stanch adherent of work equality" and viewed this as a huge victory. On June 23, 1972, she gained national attention when she umpired the first game of a Class A minor league doubleheader between the Geneva Senators and Auburn Phillies. The game was a near sellout with 2,000 people attending the game at Shuron Park in Geneva, New York.

In the fourth inning, Gera ruled Auburn base-runner Terry Ford safe at second on a double play, then reversed her call. Auburn manager Nolan Campbell disputed the decision and said that Gera's first mistake was putting on an umpire's uniform and her second was blowing the call. Campbell was ejected from the game, but Gera still decided to resign between games, which was later said to be planned, saying she became disenchanted with umpiring when the other umpires refused to cooperate with her on the field.

Gera cites the "cool resentment" of both the other umpires and the baseball establishment as a motivation for her decision to resign, not her dispute with Auburn manager Nolan Campbell. Though she resigned not long after becoming an umpire, Gera saw this as a larger, symbolic victory for women participating in sports historically perceived as "for men only."

Her husband, Steve Gera, quoted his wife as saying: "I could beat them in the courts, but I can't beat them on the field." Although she stopped umpiring, Gera stayed in the game, working for the New York Mets in the team's community relations and promotions department from 1974 to 1979 before retiring to Florida.

Gera died of kidney cancer in 1992 in Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Florida, at the age of 61.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum contains artifacts from women associated with baseball, including Gera.