“This news came as a wonderful surprise and I am truly honored to be recognized,” said Runge. “It is a pleasure to be accepted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Born on October 20, 1940 in St. Catharines, ON, Paul Runge was a highly respected National League umpire for parts of 25 major league seasons from 1973 to 1997.
He began his career in pro baseball as an outfielder/catcher in the Houston Colt 45s and Los Angeles Angels organizations from 1962 to 1964 before deciding to follow in his father Ed Runge’s footsteps and pursue an umpiring career.
He polished his skills as a minor league umpire for parts of nine seasons before graduating to the National League in 1973. Over his quarter century as a big league umpire, Runge became one of the most esteemed in the game. He was selected to umpire nine National League Championship Series, four World Series (1979, 1984, 1989 and 1993) and three All-Star Games (1978, 1986, 1994).
Among his career highlights was being the third base umpire when Expos’ right-hander Charlie Lea tossed a no-hitter on May 10, 1981. It was the first no-hitter thrown by an Expos pitcher at Olympic Stadium.
More than 12 years later, on Oct. 23, 1993, Runge was umpiring second base when Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter belted his walk-off, World Series-winning home run against Phillies closer Mitch Williams.
In total, Runge umpired 3,194 regular season MLB games, 43 championship series contests and 22 World Series games. Just three Canadians have umpired more MLB games: Bob Emslie (Guelph, ON), Jim McKean (Montreal, QC) and Ernie Quigley (Newcastle, NB).
In 1998, Runge became the National League’s director of umpires. He served in that post through 1999.
As a family tradition his father, Ed, was an American League umpire from 1954 to 1970 and his son, Brian, umpired in the National League from 1999 to 2012.