CALLED UP: The Emmett Ashford Story

CALLED UP: The Emmett Ashford Story is a one-hour documentary being produced by the filmmaking team of Raymond Bell a two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and Doug Harris an award-winning filmmaker about the untold story of an African American sports pioneer. This important story must be told!!

The History Channel Podcast takes notice of CALLED UP: The Emmett Ashford Story!! CALLED UP’s Executive Producer along with filmmaker Doug Harris, Emmett’s daughter Adrienne Bratton, and sports historian Mark Armour were interviewed by the History Channel Podcast. The podcast integrates interviews with soundbites from the CALLED UP documentary to tell the story of Emmett Ashford’s journey to the Major Leagues. It is a wonderfully produced storytelling broadcast. Please view the link below to hear it.

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CALLED UP TELEVISION INTEVIEWS

Fred Claire talks Emmett Ashford after the Yankees/White Sox Field of Dreams game.

Ray Bell talks Emmett Ashford on Fox 11 Extra Innings

Doug Harris talks Emmett Ashford on Fox Sports in the Bay Area

PROMO VIDEOS

CALLED UP Trailer

CALLED UP (Presentation)

A Message from PBS Station Partner

SCREENINGS

Screening at Berkeley

Screening at Chapman University

Screening at CSULA

Screening at UCLA

SOUND BYTES

Doug Harvey on Racism

Fred Claire

NEWS ARTICLES

Remembering Emmett Ashford, first Black umpire in AL/NL history

Jackie Robinson inspired countless Black athletes to pick up a glove and bat to play baseball — but his impact goes far beyond those who played the game. Case in point: Emmett Ashford. Read More

What Made Emmett Ashford, Major League Baseball’s First Black Umpire, an American Hero

During his 20-year professional career, his boisterous style endeared him to fans but rankled traditionalists. Read More

Black History Month Chapman University features: Emmett Ashford

In celebration of Black History Month, Chapman Athletics will be looking back on the Black athletes in our Hall of Fame. First up, is the barrier-breaking Emmett Ashford.

On April 11, 1966, Major League Baseball saw an African American umpire take the field to officiate a ball game for the first time ever. It just so happened that this particular umpire graduated from Chapman College (now Chapman University) in 1941.

Emmett Ashford, born in Los Angeles in 1914, took a rather unusual route to the big leagues. The young man coming off four years of service in World War II quickly found himself scrambling for work in Santa Ana. He decided to take a position at the local post office, but maintained his passion for baseball — which he grew up playing, even attempting to play semi-professionally — by picking up umpiring duties in the Santa Ana municipal softball league.