- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDonald Anton Denkinger
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Don Denkinger was born on August 28, 1936 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA. He was married to Gayle Lee Price. He died on May 12, 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa, USA.
- SpouseGayle Lee Price(November 24, 1962 - May 12, 2023) (his death, 3 children)
- Remembered for a blown call he made in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. In the ninth inning, he called Jorge Orta of the Kansas City Royals safe at first base, but replays showed that first baseman Jack Clark's toss to pitcher Todd Worrell had beaten Orta to the bag. The Royals then scored twice to win that game and went on to defeat the Cardinals in Game 7 to win World Series title in team history.
- American League umpire, 1969-1998. Umpired two American League Division Series (1981, 1995), six American League Championship Series (1972, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1988, 1992), four World Series (1974, 1980, 1985, 1991), and three All-Star Games (1971, 1976, 1987).
- Umpired first major league game 8 April 1969; umpired final major league game 2 June 1998.
- Minor league umpire in the Alabama-Florida League (1960), Northwest League (1961-1962), Texas League (1963-1965), and International League (1966-1968).
- He was home-plate umpire for Nolan Ryan's sixth no-hitter in 1990. He is one of seven umps to work two perfect games; he was at second base for Len Baker's gem in 1981 and at first for Kenny Rogers' in 1994.
- I'm not tired of talking about it [the blown call]. I mean, it happened. I just know that if the same thing happened now, they'd get it right on replay and it'd be over with.
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