The trailblazing Bernice Gera

Today marks the 52nd anniversary for the debut of Bernice Gera as the first female umpire in pro baseball.

Gera, a 39-year-old homemaker originally from Indiana County, Pa., successfully completes umpire school and a signs contract to work in the short-season, Class A New York-Penn League.

She works her first game in the opener of a doubleheader between the Geneva Rangers and Auburn Phillies in upstate New York, making her debut a memorable one by ejecting Auburn manager Nolan Campbell in the fourth inning.

One game, though, is enough for Gera, who already is facing considerable resentment from other umpires for her trailblazing achievement.

Bernice Gera, Nolan Campbell

She resigns in protest before the second game of the doubleheader after fellow umpire Doug Hartmayer refuses to come to her aid during her heated argument with Campbell during the fourth inning of the first game.

Gera never again umpires in affiliated baseball.

She would die in 1992 of kidney cancer.

Today, her uniform and pink whiskbroom may be found at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. – two hours east of where Gera umpires her one and only pro game in Geneva.

“Baseball has fought me for years,” Gera says shortly after walking away from the game. “In my heart I feel they have truly gone out of their way to hurt me because I am a woman.

“People have been calling me a quitter, but if I was a quitter I never would have fought it so long. … In a way, they succeeded in getting rid of me, but in a way I’ve succeeded too. I’ve broken the barrier. It can be done. I don’t care what people say now. People haven’t gone through what I’ve gone through. You have to experience it to understand it.”