John Hirschbeck
John Francis Hirschbeck (born September 7, 1954 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the American League from 1984 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2000; he is currently a crew chief. On February 28, 2000, Hirschbeck was elected as the first president of the newly certified World Umpires Association. He wears uniform number 17, which was also his number when the leagues maintained separate umpiring staffs.
Hirschbeck was an umpire in the All-Star Game twice (1989, 2004), in the Division Series 8 times (AL: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2005; NL: 2001, 2003, 2006, 2010), the American League Championship Series 4 times (1990, 1997, 2000 and 2004), and the World Series three times (1995, 2006, 2010.)
Hirschbeck was the home plate umpire on August 7, 2007 at AT&T Park in San Francisco when the Giants' Barry Bonds hit his record 756th career home run.
Hirschbeck was the home plate umpire on October 6, 2010 for the first NLDS game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia when the Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter.
The Associated Press revealed on October 25, 2010 that Hirschbeck would work his third career World Series. He was selected as crew chief and worked home plate in Game 1.
In the 2011 season, Hirschbeck was the crew chief of Crew A along with Wally Bell, Laz Diaz, and Scott Barry.
On July 24, 2011, in the eighth inning during a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Hirschbeck was hit in the groin with a foul ball while working behind home plate. The game stopped for several minutes while Hirschbeck could recover. The Pirates won 4-3 in 10 innings.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Alomar controversy
Although most umpires stay out of the public eye, Hirschbeck came to be widely known for an on-the field incident on September 27, 1996 in Toronto when Baltimore Oriole Roberto Alomar got into a heated, two-way argument with Hirschbeck over a called third strike that Alomar alleged was outside the strike zone. Hirschbeck then ejected Alomar from the game, and Alomar spat in Hirschbeck's face, claiming that the umpire had used a degrading ethnic slur against him. Lip readers contend that Hirschbeck called Alomar "a faggot" as Alomar was walking away.[2] Alomar, and other players, claimed that Hirschbeck's personality had changed, and that he had been on the edge and extremely bitter since the death of his son from adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), and learning that another son also had it. The day after the incident, after hearing Alomar's remarks, Hirschbeck charged into the Orioles' clubhouse and had to be restrained by a fellow umpire. Alomar was suspended for five games and required to donate $50,000 to ALD research. One week later, on October 5, Hirschbeck said he had forgiven Alomar for the incident.
Alomar and Hirschbeck settled their differences publicly and made apologies to each other on April 22, 1997, standing at home plate and shaking hands in front of the crowd before an Orioles game. "You know, I just wanted to put it behind us," Hirschbeck said on an interview to the Arizona Republic in 2005. "I said something to him once and it just flooded out how sorry he was."
Both Hirschbeck and Alomar took the unfortunate incident as an opportunity to join forces and help raise awareness about the disease and raise funds for research. They came to regard each other as friends. When asked about the incident at his retirement in 2005, Alomar said, "That, to me, is over and done. It happened over nine years ago. We are now great friends. We have done some things with charity. God put us maybe in this situation for something". Alomar later made a donation of $252,000 for research on adrenoleukodystrophy.
[edit] Trivia
- John's brother Mark Hirschbeck served as an umpire from 1988 to 2003, with the pair becoming the first brothers to become major league umpires.
- Hirschbeck started his umpire career as a part-time Little League umpire in high school.
- He is a 1976 graduate of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. He also played baseball while attending.
[edit] References
- ^ http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310724123
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=qKVDJzPTfCQC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=Hirschbeck+Alomar+faggot&source=bl&ots=W4s3DuVTae&sig=14fxYGuFhVes2bD4XpFD9UnGQSI&hl=en&ei=XGutSenqGI3Btgfmm42BBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result
- Reaves, John A. 2005. "Umpire John Hirschbeck has dealt with harshest curves life can throw." The Arizona Republic. Aug. 10, 2005.
- Blum, Ronald. 2003. "Judge tosses out umpires' lawsuit." Associated Press. January 28, 2003.
- "Baseball looking to discipline Hirschbeck." Associated Press. July 19, 2002.
