Saugerties native Hallion named MLB crew chief

As a major league umpire, Tom Hallion has been able to achieve many career milestones, including working All-Star games, League Championship Series and World Series. Now he’s reached the highest position an umpire can aspire to — crew chief. The Saugerties native earned the promotion at the beginning of spring training and is looking forward to having his own crew when the regular season begins next week. “It’s very rewarding. It’s almost feels like I’ve come full circle,” said Hallion, who talked by phone Monday after working the Astros-Pirates exhibition in Bradentown, Fla. Ironically, he was on his way to St. Petersburg to watch Saugerties High’s baseball team play a preseason game. “I’m very thrilled,” he said. With the retirements of Charlie Reliford, Randy Marsh, Ed Montague and Rick Reed, Hallion was promoted by the Commissioner’s office along with Brian Gorman, Jeff Kellogg and Jerry Layne. A 17-year veteran, Hallion has umpired two All-Star games, three divisional series, two LCS and the 2008 World Series. Hallion had been in Jerry Crawford’s crew the last two years. “It’s sad. It’s Jerry’s last year and I wanted to stay with him. I was caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Hallion, who filled in as a acting chief when Crawford was sidelined by a bad back last year.Crawford pushed him to accept the position. The retirement of four chiefs allowed for the shuffling and creation of new crews. Hallion’s new crew includes Ed Rapuano, Ron Kulpa and Lance Barksdale. Rapuano actually filled in when Crawford was out in ’09 and he also worked with Hallion in the ’08 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. “I’ve worked a little bit with Eddie and Ron. I’ve never worked with Lance,” Hallion said. The crew makes its’ debut next Monday afternoon in Kansas City when the Royals open against the Detroit Tigers. The unit heads to Texas after that for the Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. Hallion’s crew will spend much of its time this season west of the Mississippi River. After the first weekend, they go to Colorado, San Diego, Arizona, then back to Texas. Their schedule calls for only two trips to New York, including a late-season series at Yankee Stadium, and no visits to Boston. “My niece lives up there in Boston. I had to break the bad news that I’m not heading that way,” Hallion said. His first major league game was in 1985, but Hallion was out of baseball in ’99 as part of a failed stand by umpires which led to 22 arbiters’ resignations being accepted. He returned as a minor league ump in ’03, made his way back to the majors by ’05 and was fully reinstated in ’07. In another instance of coming full circle, Hallion was part of the negotiating team for the World Umpires Association that hammered out a new five-year collective bargaining agreement that was unanimously approved. It was the largest umpiring contract ever signed, Hallion said. Adding to the irony was Hallion sitting across the table during negotiations from Rob Manfred, MLB’s Executive Vice President for Labor Relations. Manfred was involved in the MLB’s handling of the ’99 situation that led to Hallion’s dismissmal. “It was kind of interesting,” remarked Hallion, who plans to umpire for at least five or more six years in order to help out with the next contract. As for memories with Crawford’s crew, last Aug. 26 in Toronto won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Hallion had to replace Crawford behind the plate early in the game when the veteran crew chief took a foul ball off his face mask. In the sixth inning, Travis Snider swung and missed at a Scott Kazmir pitch that crossed up Tampa Bay catcher Gregg Zaun. The 92-mph pitch hit smacked Hallion in the chest, bringing him down. “He was calling for a slider outside. Kazmir threw a fastball inside,” Hallion remembered. “It was like I got shot. “It was never touched. It got the bottom of the chest protector and part of the flesh.” It didn’t leave a Rawling’s logo on him, but a “bruise that ended up six different shades of color.” Medical staff rushed to his side and a cart was brought out, but he eventually rose and walked off without assistance. After a 21-minute delay, Hallion returned to handle third base. “Jerry was already out. I wasn’t going to leave us down to two guys,” he said. “They let me go stand at third base and help with the rotation. They made me promise not to move.” The bruise eventually went away. Hallion accepts the risk, saying “It was the nature of the beast.” He did, though, get a new chest protector. “(Umpiring legend) Joe West makes a vest that’s a little longer,” he said. “The next day he called me and said, ‘Your new protector is on the way and you’ll have it before the next time behind the plate.”

New Crew Chiefs Selected

New Crew Chiefs were selected by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball to replace Reliford, Reed, Marsh, and Montague. These umpires include Tom Hallion, who first joined the National League Staff in 1986, Jerry Layne, a 21 year veteran, Brian Gorman, an 18 year veteran, and Jeff Kellogg, a 17 and a half year veteran

Four Senior Umpires Retire

Charlie Reliford moved into a position with the Office of the Commissioner after 20 years as a Major League Umpire. His career included 2 All Star Games (1996, 2007), 4 Divisional Playoff Series (1995, 1997, 2000, 2004), 3 League Championship Series (1999, 2001, 2002), and 2 World Series(2000, 2004). A long time instructor at Harry Wendelstedt's School for umpires, Charlie served as the only committee member allowed by the Commissioner's Office to be on the Rules Committee. He was a tremendous asset to the Joint Committee on Training.

Rick Reed has left the field to be an Observer for the Office of the Commissioner after 28 years as a Major League Umpire. He was the Chief of the crew that worked the first Major League games ever played in China and his crew opened the season in 2008 in the "Japan Opening Series." He worked Dave Righetti's and Joe Crowley's No-Hitters and was one of the umpires for George Brett's 3,000th hit. He worked 2 All Star Games (1986,1998), 3 Divisional Series (1997, 2000, 2001), 3 League Championship Series (1989, 1995, 1999) and the World Series in 1991. He made his acting debut as the home plate umpire in the Kevin Costner film "For The Love Of the Game" in 1999.

Randy Marsh has left the field and taken a supervisory position with the Office of the Commissioner after 28 years as a Major League Umpire. He has worked 4 All Star Games (1985, 1988, 1996, 2006), 5 Divisional Series (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006), 9 League Championship Series (1989, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009) and 5 World Series (1990,1997,1999, 2003, 2006). Also, a long time instructor for Harry Wendelstedt, Randy was also one of the original instructors at Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy at Compton, California in November of 2006. Randy was part of the first Joint Committee on Training and collaborated on the first Major League Umpire Manuel.

Ed Montague, the Dean of Major League Umpires for the last two years has retired after 35 years as a Major League Umpire (tied for 3rd all time). He worked 4 All Star Games (1982,1990,1998, 2004), 7 Divisional Series (1981, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007), 8 League Championship Series (1979, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002), and 6 World Series (1986, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2007). Ed was the Crew Chief of the last four World Series he worked. The only other umpires in history to achieve that were Al Barlick, Bill Klem, and Tom Connelly (all Hall of Famers). Ed had worked the most World Series games of any active umpire at the time of his retirement. He was 12th on the all time list for Most World Series Games Umpired. His 65 other post season games make him 4th all time for Most Post Season Games Umpired with 99. His 4,369 games ranks him 8th all time. Four of the eight are in the Hall of Fame (Klem, Connelly, McGowan, and new this year Doug Harvey).

2010 Major League Umpire Crew

John Kibler, Umpire for Bill Buckner’s Error, Dies at 81

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — John Kibler, a longtime National League umpire, died here Thursday. He was 81.

Kibler died of a heart attack, his family said. Kibler worked his first major league game in 1963 and was a full-time National League umpire from 1965 through 1989. He worked the World Series four times, and was at first base for Game 6 of the 1986 Series between the Mets and the Boston Red Sox, which the Mets famously won when Mookie Wilson’s ground ball rolled between first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs.

Kibler was the plate umpire for Game 7, when the Mets beat the Red Sox for the championship.

Kibler served in the Navy during the Korean War and left the New York state police to go to umpiring school. He started out as a minor league umpire in the late 1950s and became a major league crew chief in 1977.

He was married for 51 years. Kibler and his wife, Dorothy, had two sons.

Behind the Mask - Drew Coble '75

Though he retired from umpiring in Major League Baseball more than a decade ago, Drew Coble has vivid memories of his days working in the big leagues and the minors. Read on for Coble’s insights into the world of umpiring, as well as his favorite moments of his baseball career.

The umpiring life

A standout catcher and first baseman, Drew Coble (right) led Elon in batting average, hits and RBI in 1973.

Just as it is for ballplayers, the quality of life is far different for umpires in the minor leagues compared with the majors.

After earning one of the two minor-league positions offered at the conclusion of his umpire training course in 1975, Coble started work in the long-season Class A Western Carolina League. Over the next couple of years, he moved up to the higher-level Class-A Carolina League and, in 1977, the Class AA Southern League.

“In the minors, the pay was really low,” Coble recalls. “You had to drive everywhere. You’d drive through the night, and you’d just hope you could get some sleep before you had to work the next night. That’s what the minor leagues were like.”

Coble spent 10 days working in the Southern League before he caught the eye of Barney Deary, the head of minor-league umpires at the time. Deary liked what he saw and promoted Coble to Class AAA, the last stop in minor-league play before the majors. Class AAA was an improvement in lifestyle, but still posed challenges for Coble and his family.

“In triple-A, you fly everywhere, and the money is a little bit better, but it’s not great,” he says. “I had a second job in the wintertime to get enough money for my family to get by.”

One phone call in April 1981 changed all that.

“It was opening day (of the MLB season), and I was sitting at home, watching the Cincinnati Reds on TV,” Coble recalls. “The phone rang, I picked it up, and the person said ‘Drew, this is Dick Butler (head of umpires) of the American League. I want to welcome you to the American League.’”

Though his time in the majors directly following Butler’s call lasted only a few games, Coble returned to the majors for good in June of that year.

Former Elon baseball coach Jerry Drake (left) introduced Coble for his 2007 induction to the Elon Sports Hall of Fame.

“Once you get to the big leagues, you fly everywhere, you stay in first-class hotels, you travel first class,” he says. “It’s just a big, big difference (from the minors).”

Favorite memories in baseball

Over his nearly 20-year career as a major-league umpire, Coble witnessed some amazing moments in baseball. For example, in 1990, he became only the fifth umpire since 1901 to work two no-hitters in a single season; he was on hand for A’s pitcher Dave Stewart’s no-no against the Blue Jays on June 29, and Blue Jays pitcher Dave Steib’s against the Cleveland Indians on Sept. 2.

“When you’re working, you kind of get caught up in the game. Then you realize, ‘Hey, this guy is throwing a no-hitter, and he’s depending on me to make the calls,’” Coble says. “It’s a little bit of pressure.”

As an AL umpire, Coble worked alongside stars and hall-of-famers, including the New York Yankees’ Reggie Jackson, the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Robin Yount. In his first game after being recalled to the major leagues in June 1981, Coble remembers getting to work with A’s manager Billy Martin, a man famously fired and re-hired multiple times by George Steinbrenner when Martin worked for the Yankees.

But perhaps his favorite memory of his career was working the classic 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves. The series lasted the maximum seven games, three of which went to extra innings. Coble worked the plate for one of those extra-inning affairs, Game 3 in Atlanta, when Mark Lemke’s single to left scored David Justice from second for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th, giving the Braves a 2-1 victory. The Twins, however, prevailed in the series.

“I had more fun in that World Series than God knows what,” Coble recalls. “(The umpires) had our families with us, and it was like a 10-day vacation. All I had to do was work a couple of hours each night.”

by Kristin Simonetti, Staff

West Vest Gold Chest Protector

West Vest Gold Chest Protector - It’s the top of the line developed by Major League umpire Joe West, manufactured for maximum protection! This chest protector provides you with a level of protection demanded by professional umpires. Accept nothing less then the best. Sized to fit your body; adjustable for comfort. Black only, 12” length. Select your protector based on your coat size. Size S-M for coat sizes under 38. Size M-L for coat sizes 38 to 44. Size L-XL for coat sizes 46 to 54. Sized to fit your body; adjustable for comfort. One of two protectors endorsed by Major League Baseball for use by its umpires. Check out this quality chest protector at MajorLeagueUmpires.com