John McSherry

John Patrick McSherry (September 11, 1944 – April 1, 1996) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1971 until his death. McSherry wore uniform number 9 when he entered the National League, then wore number 10 from 1979 through the rest of his career. A respected arbiter, he was one of several umpires who were noticeably obese. McSherry was officially listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 328 pounds (149 kg). On April 1, 1996, the opening day of the 1996 Major League Baseball season, McSherry suffered a fatal heart attack while calling a game in Cincinnati.

John McSherry
Born(1944-09-11)September 11, 1944
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 1, 1996(1996-04-01) (aged 51)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Resting placeGate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York)
EducationSt. John's University (New York City)
OccupationMLB umpire
Years active1971–1996

Early life

McSherry was baptized at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx, where he grew up.[1][2] McSherry played baseball at St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School.[3] His high school coach advised him to go into umpiring if he wanted to continue in baseball. He enrolled at St. John's University after high school on an academic scholarship but left after two years to attend umpiring school.[4]

Umpiring career

McSherry's "primary tutor" as a young umpire was Tom Gorman.[4] He debuted as a Major League umpire on June 1, 1971 as the third base umpire during a game between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros at Atlanta Stadium.[5][6] On July 4, 1972, he ejected Astros manager Harry Walker from a game for arguing that Pittsburgh Pirates batter Al Oliver had failed to touch first base on a double.[7] It was McSherry's first ejection on the Major League level.[6] He was promoted to crew chief in July 1988.[8]

Post-season games

McSherry umpired in the World Series in 1977 and 1987. He also officiated in the National League Championship Series in 1974, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1992, and in the National League Division Series in 1981 and 1995.

McSherry removed himself from the seventh game of the 1992 National League Championship Series in the second inning due to illness.[9]

All-Star Games

McSherry worked the 1975, 1982, and 1991 All-Star Games, for which the umpiring crew consisted of three American League umpires and three National League umpires during the years 1949 to 1999.

Other notable games

Death
McSherry's headstone in Gate of Heaven Cemetery

On April 1, 1996, the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos were playing an Opening Day game, and McSherry was the home plate umpire. Seven pitches into the game, McSherry called a timeout, spoke briefly to Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee, and walked slowly towards the Reds' dugout. Moments after signaling for the second base umpire to come in and replace him, McSherry stumbled forward and collapsed face-first onto the turf. Resuscitative efforts were begun on McSherry and he was taken to University Hospital in Cincinnati, but was pronounced dead on arrival. He was 51 years old.

Because third-base umpire Tom Hallion had followed the ambulance to the hospital, it left the remaining two umpires, Steve Rippley and Jerry Crawford, to decide whether to proceed with the game. Shaken and tearful players on both teams consoled the grieving umpires, and the umpires decided to postpone the game. Reds manager Ray Knight recalled a comment from shortstop Barry Larkin: "Barry told me very quietly and with very much emotion: 'Ray, I've had a lot of deaths in my family. In good conscience, out of respect for life, I can't go out there.'"[14]

Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was quoted as having said, "Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me." Schott's statement was criticized as a public gaffe, though supporters contended that she was thinking of the some 50,000 fans who had expected to see a baseball game and might be unable to attend a makeup game. Schott sent flowers to the umpire's dressing room, but a story in the Dayton Daily News later said that the flowers had been given to Schott on Opening Day by Reds television partner SportsChannel Ohio. According to the story, Schott hastily wrote a sympathy note and attached it to the flowers.[15][16]

The game was resumed the following day, with the Reds winning 4–1 over the Expos. Rich Rieker joined the umpiring crew as an emergency replacement at third base.

An autopsy revealed that McSherry had suffered a massive heart attack, caused by severe coronary artery disease.[1][9] He went into cardiac arrest when he collapsed during the game. McSherry dealt with health issues prior to this one, including leaving a few games due to dizziness and dehydration in the early 1990s.

According to Richie Phillips, the head of the Major League Umpires Association, McSherry weighed closer to 380 pounds (170 kg) than his listed weight of 328 pounds (149 kg) and was particularly vulnerable to job-related stress.[9] According to Phillips, at the request of the league, McSherry spent multiple offseasons attending weight-loss programs at Duke University, but once the season began, he habitually regained whatever weight he had lost.[9] As far back as 1983, Joe Garagiola Sr. was quoted in The New York Times as saying "It looks like [McSherry is] getting all the meal money."[17] In 1984, Steve Wulf had written in Sports Illustrated that McSherry "makes your average sumo wrestler look like Freddie Patek."[18]

More than 1,000 people attended McSherry's funeral mass at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx,[19] the same church in which he was baptized. About 200 people attended his burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[1]

Aftermath

It was later revealed McSherry had a doctor's appointment for the day after his death; McSherry had been diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia.[20] After the incident, Major League Baseball compelled its umpires to be more physically fit. NL umpire Eric Gregg, a friend of McSherry who was likely as heavy, made an effort to lose excess weight via exercise and diet, but resigned after the 1999 season in a dispute with MLB and subsequently died at age 55 due to a stroke in 2006.

The New York Mets honored McSherry's memory by embroidering "J.M. N.L. Umpire 10" in a home plate crossed by two baseball bats on the right sleeves of their 1996 game jerseys.[21] In memory of McSherry, the Reds dedicated Riverfront Stadium's umpires' dressing room to him, and the National League retired his number 10.

See also

References
  1. "John McSherry Remembered By Fellow Baseball Umpires". The New York Times. April 6, 1996. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  2. "McSherry Remembered by Friends". Chicago Tribune. April 4, 1996. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. Yerg, Dick (April 2, 1996). "Local umps remember regular guy". The Journal News. p. D1. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  4. Holtzman, Jerome (April 2, 1996). "McSherry Truly 'Did Fine,' Earning Players' Respect, Love". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  5. "Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves Box Score, June 1, 1971". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  6. "John McSherry". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  7. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Houston Astros 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 0". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  8. "Transactions" (PDF). Manchester Herald. July 16, 1988. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  9. Chass, Murray (April 3, 1996). "Stress Was Apparently Factor In On-Field Death of Umpire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  10. Lowitt, Bruce (May 4, 1975). "It's Watson by a flash for baseball's millionth run". The Day. New London, Conn. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  11. Dohrmann, George (April 2, 1996). "Lasorda Remembers McSherry's Laughs and Class". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  12. "Atlanta Braves 5, San Diego Padres 3". retrosheet.org. February 22, 2020.
  13. Nowlin, Bill. "August 12, 1984: Braves-Padres brawl leaves 17 players ejected in one game". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  14. www.baseball-almanac.com Obituary of John McSherry
  15. McCoy, Hal (April 28, 1996). "Parking summons irks Davis". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. p. 8D. Retrieved June 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Schott Sent Recycled Flowers". New York Times. Associated Press. April 29, 1996. p. C7. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  17. Alfano, Peter (August 15, 1983). "Bench Jockeying: Lost Art in Baseball". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  18. Wulf, Steve (April 2, 1984). "The Umpires Strike Rack". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  19. "Umpire McSherry mourned". Tampa Bay Times. April 6, 1996. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  20. Anderson, Dave (April 4, 1996). "Will Baseball Make the Call For Umpires?". The New York Times. p. B15. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  21. Henderson, W.F. (2007). "New York Mets: Patches". MLB Jersey Lettering & Style Guide: The Double-Knit Era Collectors's Reference (4.0 ed.).

Further reading
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