"On players who were good to work with, one man who stands as high as the ceiling in that category was Ted Williams, the only ballplayer who would try to help an umpire, the only man, who, if you finished the season in Boston, he would come up to the dressing room and wished the umpires a happy winter, shook hands and thanked you for being associated with the game; number two was Joe DiMaggio, another perfect gentleman (Joe Paparella, HoF Oral Interview)

Born in Eynon, Pennsylvania, Joseph James Paparella (March 9, 1909 – October 17, 1994) was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1946 to 1965. Paparella also worked as an umpire in the Canadian-American League in 1938 and 1939, the Eastern League from 1940 to 1943, and the American Association in 1944 to 1945.

Paparella umpired 3,142 major league games in his 20-year career. He umpired in four World Series (1948, 1951, 1957 and 1963) and four All-Star Games (1948, 1954, 1959 and 1964).

JA was also an umpire in the debut of Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns, the smallest person ever to play in an MLB game.

(excerpted from Baseball Hall of Fame, BR Bullpen, and Wikipedia)