American baseball umpire (born 1951)
Tim McClelland
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Tim_McClelland_2012.jpg/220px-Tim_McClelland_2012.jpg) McClelland in 2012
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Born
| (
1951-12-12
)
December 12, 1951
(age 72)
|
---|
Occupation
| MLB
umpire
|
---|
Years active
| 1981?2013
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Height
| 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
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Timothy Reid McClelland
(born December 12, 1951) is an American former
umpire
in
Major League Baseball
who worked in the
American League
from 1983 to 1999 and throughout both leagues from 2000 through the 2013 season. He called many important games, from post-season games to the
George Brett
"Pine Tar" game
in
1983
. He was the plate umpire for the
Sammy Sosa
corked bat
game on June 3, 2003, when the
Chicago Cubs
hosted the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
at
Wrigley Field
. He wore uniform number 36 after his promotion to the AL, and kept the number when Major League Baseball merged the American and
National League
umpiring staffs in
2000
.
McClelland retired as MLB's second-most senior umpire (after
Joe West
), and was the second tallest major league umpire at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m)?
Jordan Baker
is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m). McClelland was originally known for working in a kneeling position behind the plate, but switched in 2006 to a "box position," a form of
squat
. He was also noted for his deliberate umpiring mechanics, which earned him the nickname "
Rain Delay
McClelland,"
[1]
and for his small but consistent
strike zone
.
[2]
Pitcher
Zack Greinke
said of McClelland's tight strike zone, "For some reason, he's the one umpire that scares me. I have nightmares about him."
[3]
Umpiring career
McClelland has umpired in numerous noteworthy baseball games. He has been a
World Series
umpire four times (
1993
,
2000
,
2002
and
2006
), and worked in three
All-Star
games (
1986
,
1998
and
2003
), calling balls and strikes on the last occasion. He has also called five
Division Series
(
1997
,
2000
,
2002
,
2004
,
2006
), serving as crew chief in 1997, 2004, and 2006. McClelland has officiated eight
League Championship Series
(
1988
,
1995
,
1999
,
2001
,
2003
,
2005
,
2007
,
2008
and
2009
), serving as crew chief in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
[4]
Notable games
McClelland was the first base umpire for
Jack Morris
'
no-hitter
on April 7, 1984
[5]
and was the umpire at third base for
Nolan Ryan
's sixth career no-hitter on June 11, 1990.
[6]
McClelland was behind the plate at Yankee Stadium when
David Wells
pitched a
perfect game
against the
Minnesota Twins
on May 17, 1998.
[7]
McClelland was umpiring at second base on April 21, 2012, when
Philip Humber
threw a
perfect game
.
[8]
McClelland behind the plate in 2008
McClelland also was the umpire during the
2003
game where famous slugger
Sammy Sosa
was caught with a
corked bat
at Wrigley Field during the interleague game between the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
and the
Chicago Cubs
.
[9]
Sosa broke his bat hitting a routine ground out, and upon inspection of the fragments of the bat, cork was found, leading to Sosa's ejection and subsequent suspension.
McClelland was the home plate umpire for the single-game playoff to decide the NL's
2007
wild card team, in which there was question as to whether Matt Holliday ever touched home plate, resulting in the
Colorado Rockies
defeating the
San Diego Padres
9?8 in 13 innings.
[10]
He also worked the 2008 one-game playoff between the
Minnesota Twins
and the
Chicago White Sox
, which the White Sox won 1-0, on a
Jim Thome
home run in the 7th inning.
[11]
During a
spring training
game on March 19, 2013, McClelland used the rare umpiring technique of calling balls and strikes from the infield while waiting for another umpire to put on the home plate gear after home plate umpire Seth Buckminster sustained a broken left hand and was forced to leave the game.
[12]
Controversies
In his first season in the AL, McClelland was behind the plate in the infamous "Pine Tar Game" at
Yankee Stadium
on July 24, 1983, in which
George Brett
of the
Kansas City Royals
hit an apparent two-run
home run
, which was immediately protested by
New York Yankees
manager
Billy Martin
due to an obscure equipment rule. McClelland inspected Brett's bat, which had
pine tar
24 inches up the handle. Because of the rule stating that pine tar cannot extend more than 18 inches up a bat handle, combined with the rule that a batter using illegal equipment should be automatically called out, McClelland called Brett out, which nullified the home run. In the melee that followed, McClelland registered the first four ejections of his career, beginning with Brett and continuing with Kansas City's manager
Dick Howser
, their coach
Rocky Colavito
, and their pitcher
Gaylord Perry
.
[13]
[14]
AL president
Lee MacPhail
later overturned McClelland's decision regarding overturning Brett's home run into an out, saying that the spirit of the rule mattered more than the one in the rulebook, and had the Yankees and Royals replay the game from after the now-counted home run. MacPhail noted that no claim had ever been made that pine tar gave the batter an unfair advantage, but rather that the rule was left over from concerns in earlier days about baseballs getting ruined from getting too much pine tar on it. A number of umpires were upset by MacPhail's decision.
[15]
[16]
27 years later, in 2012, MLB officially changed the rules wherein any protest regarding equipment must be made prior to a play.
Nine years later, McClelland was a member of the crew that worked Brett's 3,000th-hit game and was one of the first to congratulate him.
In 2007, McClelland worked home plate for the NL's Wild Card tiebreaker game between the
San Diego Padres
and the
Colorado Rockies
. In the bottom of the 13th inning, with the score even at 8?8, the Rockies scored the winning run on a
sacrifice fly
when McClelland called the tagging baserunner,
Matt Holliday
, safe at the plate. There were questions afterward as to whether Holliday had actually touched home plate on his slide. Padres manager
Bud Black
stated after the game that he believed Holliday did touch the plate.
[10]
Following the game, McClelland told
The Des Moines Register
that "
Michael Barrett
stuck out his leg, but he didn't have it planted in the ground. What I saw was Holliday kind of slide through that leg and touch the plate."
[17]
McClelland defended his deliberate safe call saying that he wanted to see if Barrett held on to the ball.
[17]
On October 20, 2009, in an
American League Championship Series
game between the
New York Yankees
and the
Los Angeles Angels
, McClelland made two highly publicized controversial calls. McClelland called
Nick Swisher
out for leaving the base too early when Swisher was tagging up on a fly ball. Some analysts
[
who?
]
contend that video replays showed this call to be erroneous. With one out in the top of the fifth inning, an apparent double play was negated when McClelland called
Robinson Cano
safe at third after he was tagged by
Mike Napoli
while not in contact with the base.
Retirement
After spending the 2014 season on umpiring's disabled list, McClelland formally retired from the MLB staff prior to the 2015 season. Accordingly, his last game umpired occurred in September 2013, but he did not officially retire until after the 2014 season.
[18]
Personal life
McClelland, who received both his
BA
and
MA
from
Michigan State University
,
[19]
resides in
West Des Moines, Iowa
.
[20]
He is married to Sandy McClelland; they have three children.
[21]
See also
References
- ^
Lindsay (May 19, 2011).
"Polls: Strike Mechanic"
.
Close Call Sports
. Archived from
the original
on May 25, 2022
. Retrieved
2023-04-01
.
- ^
Weinstock, Josh (January 11, 2012).
"Which umpire has the largest strike zone?"
.
Fangraphs
. Archived from
the original
on August 10, 2020
. Retrieved
22 June
2012
.
- ^
Kaegel, Dick (2008-05-08).
"Royals apply manager's advice in win"
.
MLB.com
. Archived from
the original
on May 9, 2008
. Retrieved
2008-08-31
.
- ^
"Tim McClelland"
. Retrosheet.org. Archived from
the original
on September 22, 2015
. Retrieved
April 10,
2014
.
- ^
"Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: April 7, 1984"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 1, 2022
. Retrieved
June 14,
2012
.
- ^
"Baseball Almanac - Box Score of Nolan Ryan No-Hitter (Sixth)"
.
www.baseball-almanac.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2023
. Retrieved
June 14,
2012
.
- ^
"David Wells Perfect Game Box Score by Baseball Almanac"
.
www.baseball-almanac.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 7, 2022
. Retrieved
June 14,
2012
.
- ^
"Chicago White Sox vs. Seattle Mariners ? Box Score ? April 21, 2012"
. ESPN. Archived from
the original
on November 12, 2020
. Retrieved
30 April
2012
.
- ^
"McClelland no stranger to corked bats"
.
Associated Press
. 2003-06-04. Archived from
the original
on May 3, 2008
. Retrieved
2007-10-07
.
- ^
a
b
Stapleton, Arnie (2007-10-02).
"Colorado 9, San Diego 8, 13 innings"
. Associated Press via Yahoo! Sports. Archived from
the original
on November 7, 2012
. Retrieved
2007-10-02
.
- ^
"Twins vs. White Sox - MLB Game Recap - September 30, 2008"
.
ESPN
. Archived from
the original
on August 25, 2018
. Retrieved
June 14,
2012
.
- ^
"Buckminster Breaks Hand; McClelland Umps from Infield"
.
Close Call Sports
. CloseCallSports.com. March 19, 2013. Archived from
the original
on June 16, 2017
. Retrieved
March 20,
2013
.
- ^
https://web.archive.org/web/20211023144130/https://www.closecallsports.com/2015/02/retirement-of-mlb-umpire-tim-mcclelland.html
- ^
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1983/B07240NYA1983.htm
- ^
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NJEzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3674%2C5007997
- ^
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=guIhAAAAIBAJ&pg=5139%2C6229003
- ^
a
b
Miller, Bryce (2007-10-02).
"Iowa ump admits doubt on key home-plate call, but says he'd make call again"
.
The Des Moines Register
. Retrieved
2007-10-07
.
- ^
Imber, Gil (17 February 2015).
"Retirement of MLB Umpire Tim McClelland"
.
Close Call Sports/Umpire Ejection Fantasy League
. Archived from
the original
on October 23, 2021.
- ^
"Ask the Umpire"
.
MLB.com
. Archived from
the original
on February 17, 2007
. Retrieved
18 July
2012
.
- ^
"In the Loop"
.
Des Moines Register
. 7 July 2012
. Retrieved
18 July
2012
.
- ^
"Tim McClelland Biography"
. Archived from
the original
on November 2, 2019
. Retrieved
2012-10-03
.
External links