Dave Pallone

David Michael Pallone (born October 5, 1951 in Waltham, Massachusetts) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1979 to 1988.

Pallone umpired his first game at the age of 19 in the New York-Penn League in May 1971. He remained in the league for the 1972 season before being promoted to the Carolina League for the 1973 season. He spent half a season there before again being promoted on June 27 to the Eastern League. He umpired in the EL through the 1975 season, when he was brought up to the International League. Pallone spent the 1976 season in both the International and Eastern Leagues before being called up for good to the IL in 1977. He stayed in the league until 1979, when he was one of eight umpires hired during the 1979 Major League Baseball umpire strike.

Pallone remained in the NL for ten years, and umpired in the 1983 All-Star Game and the 1987 National League Championship Series. He was the home plate umpire for Nolan Ryan's 4,000th strikeout on July 11, 1985, and on September 25, 986 he was the second base umpire when Mike Scott of the Houston Astros pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants to clinch the NL West Division championship. On April 30, 1988, Pallone was pushed by Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose, which resulted in Rose being suspended for 30 days. In September of that year Pallone resigned amid rumors of his alleged involvement in a Saratoga Springs, New York teenage sex ring; he was questioned by local authorities, but was cleared of any involvement. He was "outed" in a New York Post article later in the year. Pallone later wrote a book, Behind the Mask, about his experiences as a gay man working in baseball.