New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Major League Baseball umpire Tim McClelland
announced his retirement on Friday.
McClelland, who served 32-plus years and more than 4,200 games, including 94
postseason games, as a major league umpire, trailed only Joe West (37 years)
as the longest tenured umpire.
McClelland worked four World Series (1993, 2000, 2002 and 2006) in his career
along with nine League Championship Series, five Division Series and three
All-Star Games (1986, 1998, 2003).
In addition to his slow ball/strike call when behind the plate, he was most
famous for being the home plate umpire for the “Pine Tar Game” between the
Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 24,
1983, when he ejected George Brett for having too much pine tar on his bat
after hitting a go-ahead home run late in the game.
Major League Baseball also announced Friday that umpires Tripp Gibson, Will
Little and Mark Ripperger have been named to the full-time Major League
Umpiring staff, which has expanded from 74 members to 76 for the 2015 regular
season.
