[2] After pitching in the minor leagues for three years, he served in the Army in Europe as a member of the 16th Infantry Regiment ("New York's Own") during World War II.

In Game 1 of the 1968 Series, he called balls and strikes as Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals struck out a Series-record 17 Detroit Tigers.

He also officiated in the National League Championship Series in 1971 and 1975, serving as crew chief in 1971, and in the three-game playoff to determine the NL champion in 1959.

[10] Two years later, on August 8, 1954, he was again the home plate umpire when the Reds gave up a record 12 runs (all of them unearned) after there were two out and no one on base in the eighth inning of a 20–7 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers; the inning ended only when Gil Hodges' bid for a grand slam was caught high off the center field wall.

[12] On April 17, 1964, he was the home plate umpire for the inaugural game at Shea Stadium between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the interplanetary version of Sports Illustrated, umpire Tom Gorman explains why he threw out a player from Venus: "He opened up ten mouths to me!

[15] Gorman died of a heart attack in Closter at age 67,[4] and was buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, in his umpire's uniform with the ball-strike counter set at 3–2 in his hand.