Umpiring career Tim McClelland

1 umpiring career

1.1 notable games
1.2 controversies
1.3 retirement

umpiring career

mcclelland has umpired in numerous noteworthy baseball games. has been world series umpire 4 times (1993, 2000, 2002 , 2006), , worked in 3 all-star games (1986, 1998 , 2003), calling balls , strikes on last occasion. has called 5 division series (1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006), serving crew chief in 1997, 2004, , 2006. mcclelland has officiated 8 league championship series (1988, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 , 2009), serving crew chief in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 , 2009.

notable games

mcclelland first base umpire jack morris no-hitter on april 7, 1984 , umpire @ third base nolan ryan s sixth career no-hitter on june 11, 1990. mcclelland behind plate @ yankee stadium when david wells pitched perfect game against minnesota twins on may 17, 1998. mcclelland umpiring @ second base on april 21, 2012, when philip humber threw perfect game.

mcclelland behind plate in 2008

mcclelland umpire during 2003 game famous slugger sammy sosa caught corked bat @ wrigley field during interleague game between tampa bay devil rays , chicago cubs. sosa broke bat hitting routine ground out, , upon inspection of fragments of bat, cork found, leading sosa s ejection , subsequent suspension.

mcclelland home plate umpire single-game playoff decide nl s 2007 wild card team, in colorado rockies defeated san diego padres 9–8 in 13 innings. worked 2008 one-game playoff between minnesota twins , chicago white sox, white sox won on jim thome home run in 7th inning 1–0.

during spring training game on march 19, 2013, mcclelland used rare umpiring technique of calling balls , strikes infield while waiting umpire put on home plate gear after home plate umpire seth buckminster sustained broken left hand , forced leave game.

controversies

in first season in al, mcclelland behind plate in infamous pine tar game @ yankee stadium on july 24, 1983, in george brett of kansas city royals hit apparent two-run home run, protested new york yankees manager billy martin due obscure equipment rule. mcclelland inspected brett s bat, had pine tar 24 inches handle. because of rule stating pine tar cannot extend more 18 inches bat handle, mcclelland called brett out, nullified home run. al president lee macphail later overturned mcclelland s decision, clarifying protest regarding equipment must made prior play, , had yankees , royals replay inning. 9 years later, mcclelland member of crew worked brett s 3,000th-hit game , 1 of first congratulate him.

in 2007, mcclelland worked home plate nl s wild card tiebreaker game between san diego padres , colorado rockies. in bottom of 13th inning, score @ 8–8, rockies scored winning run on sacrifice fly when mcclelland called tagging baserunner, matt holliday, safe @ plate. there questions afterward whether holliday had touched home plate on slide. padres manager bud black stated after game believed holliday did touch plate. following game, mcclelland told des moines register michael barrett stuck out leg, didn t have planted in ground. saw holliday kind of slide through leg , touch plate. mcclelland defended deliberate safe call saying wanted see if barrett held on ball.

on october 20, 2009, in american league championship series game between new york yankees , los angeles angels, mcclelland made 2 highly publicized controversial calls. mcclelland called nick swisher out leaving base when swisher tagging on fly ball. analysts contend video replays showed call erroneous. 1 out in top of fifth inning, apparent double play negated when mcclelland called robinson canó safe @ third after tagged mike napoli while not in contact base.

retirement

after spending 2014 season on umpiring s disabled list, mcclelland formally retired mlb staff prior 2015 season. accordingly, last game umpired occurred in september 2013, did not officially retire until after 2014 season.