Game Called Because of Rain or Three Umpires by Norman Rockwell

April 23, 1949 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Game Called Because of Rain, one Norman Rockwell baseball painting of many, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published April 23, 1949. This is a timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors and baseball fans alike, a true classic for the ages.

A painting this popular has many different alternate names. This is also called The Three Umpires, Tough Call and Bottom of the Sixth.

This painting was Rockwell's second cover for The Post in 1949. In 1949, there were five Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

This was also the 259th illustration Rockwell painted for cover of the Post. Rockwell's career with the Post spanned 47 years, from his first cover illustration, Boy With Baby Carriage in 1916 to his last, Portrait of John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

This illustration has been reproduced in five Rockwell commentary books, on page 35 of The Norman Rockwell Album, as illustration 297 of Norman Rockwell's America by Christopher Finch, as illustration 452a of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner on page 99 of Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective by Thomas Buechner and on page 181 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

I have seen pristine original copies of this cover still attached to the magazine sell for more than one hundred dollars on eBay. And to think it only cost fifteen cents originally!

Game Called Because of Rain

The original oil on canvas painting, 43 inches by 41 inches or 109 x 104 cm, is part of the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It was donated by Rockwell and Curtis Publishing.

A pen and charcoal on posterboard study , 47 inches by 44 inches or 119.5 x 111.5 cm, is part of the collection of the National Baseball Library, also in Cooperstown, New York.

This classic Norman Rockwell painting depicts a baseball game between National League rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburg Pirates.

Game Called Because of Rain was most likely painted during the winter months of 1948 and 1949. Rockwell meticulously planned each of his compositions.

At this point in his career, Norman Rockwell worked almost exclusively from photographs. No doubt then exists in my mind that this scene, real or imagined, takes place during the 1948 baseball season.

The Brooklyn Dodgers utilized three different managers in 1948. Leo Durocher was first, Ray Blades replaced Durocher for a few games and Burt Shotton finished the season.

Shotten led the Dodgers to the pennant in 1947. He is credited with being the last major league manager to wear regular street clothes during games, instead of donning a uniform matching the rest of the team. The Dodger manager's sleeve can be seen in the picture and looks like a regular shirt sleeve to me.

The manager for the 1948 Pittsburgh Pirates was Billy Meyer. He doesn't look very happy in this painting.

The starting outfielders for the 1948 Pirates, seen in the far background, were Johnny Hopp, Ralph Kiner, and Fred E. "Dixie" Walker.

Hopp was an All-Star in 1946.

Kiner had fifty-plus homers in 1947 and 1949.

Walker led the 1948 team, batting .318 for the season.

The Dodgers (84-70) finished the 1948 season just one game ahead of Pittsburgh (83-71). This was apparently a very important game that season.

One of our readers had this to add (see page link at bottom):

The Brooklyn player is coach Clyde Sukeforth.
Bob McGee,
author,
The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers

The Three Umpires

The three central characters in the painting are the three umpires. Their names are Larry Goetz, Lou Jorda and John "Beans" Reardon.

Reardon, the head umpire for this game, reportedly refused to advise Rockwell about the weather or the game.

The Dodgers, behind one run, are counting on the rain to end. If the rain continues and the ump calls the game, the Pirates will win. If the rain stops, the Dodgers will at least have a chance to score and win.