Fill in the blanks ... Randy Marsh
Associated Press file/Gregory Smith
Randy Marsh went toe-to-toe with some of the game's best, such as Frank Robinson in 2005.
Written by
Tom Groeschen
CINCINNATI -- Covington native Randy Marsh was a Major League Baseball umpire from 1981-2009. The Holmes High School graduate worked five World Series, four All-Star games and 16 divisional/league championship series.
Marsh, 62, retired from umpiring after the 2009 season and now is Director of Umpiring for Major League Baseball. Marsh still travels to MLB games, and usually he sits in the pressbox while evaluating umpires.
The Enquirer interviewed Marsh before a recent game at Great American Ball Park, and asked Marsh to ... fill in the blanks.
Tell us how you got into umpiring... Growing up, I played some. My eighth grade year, Holmes won the state championship. I was helping out some as a manager and tagged along. That was a thrill. My junior and senior year, I got sidetracked with umpiring Knothole games. I went to UK (Kentucky) for a while, 18 years old, then I got into umpiring school and never went back. My pro career started in the Appalachian League, $450 a month. I thought I had really made it.
Your first major league game in 1981 just happened to be... Right here in Cincinnati. It was early in the season and Harry Wendelstedt was sick, and they called me up. The Reds were playing the Dodgers, and Dusty Baker hit a home run off the foul pole for the Dodgers. That was my first call.
You knew you had really arrived when... My first full season was '82, and the Cardinals opened in Houston. In the second game of the year, I'm at second base and Ozzie Smith is playing shortstop. A guy hits a screamer, one bounce. Ozzie goes literally parallel to the ground, gets the ball, bounces up, and throws the guy out by two or three steps. I said, this is the big leagues right here.
Your most memorable game was... Probably the Sid Bream game, when he slid home and they (Atlanta) beat Pittsburgh in that Game 7 (NLCS, 1992). I was behind home plate but hadn't planned on being there. John McSherry started off behind the plate, but he left early because he was dizzy. We thought he was having a heart attack right then. John was the crew chief, and we asked him what he wanted to do. He said, 'Randy, strap it on.' I threw all my stuff on, and worked the game from the second inning on. (McSherry died of a heart attack at Riverfront Stadium on Opening Day of 1996, while umpiring at home plate).
Which World Series did you do... The first one was '90, when the Reds won. Then '97, '99, '03 and '06.
Some of your other memorable games... The Boston-New York Yankees series in '04, when Boston was down 3-0 and came back and won. I was crew chief for that series, and I was at first base when A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) slapped the ball out of (Bronson) Arroyo's hand. The second baseman and first baseman came right in front of me, and I didn't see him slap the ball out. We got together and Joe West, who was at home plate, said, 'Randy, it looked like he slapped it out of his hand.' I said I'm going to change it, and get ready because this place (New York) is going to go crazy. I brought (Derek) Jeter back and called A-Rod out, and the place went crazy.
As director of umpiring, your job is... We fill out two forms for every umpire for every game. One is a form that tells how they worked on the field, how they presented themselves, whether they hustled, rotated, handled situations, handled arguments, whether they were engaged in the game. There are about 12 different categories. The second form is an analysis for every close call. I review it and mark whether I agree with the call or not.
How many people are evaluating MLB games ... Between supervisors and observers, we have people in 14 cities. About 65 percent of our games are covered by a live person. Besides that, they have the Z-E system (Zone Evaluation System), QuesTech, where every day the umpire who works the plate gets a computer evaluation of every pitch. That goes back to our office. Years ago it was only in 10 parks, but now it's in all 30.
And how good are the umpires doing... The Z-E shows that the umpires' strike zone is 96 percent correct.
Were there ever any calls you wanted back?... No. But if any umpire misses a call, after a game I want to know why I missed it. Was my timing too quick or did I get distracted somehow? Then I've got to go on to the next day, especially as a young umpire. Don't be afraid to critique yourself, and apply it the rest of the time when you're back on the field.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110...ext|Sports