Tom Hallion

Thomas Francis Hallion (born September 5, 1956) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who has worked in the National League (NL) from 1985 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2005. He is a crew chief. Hallion has worn number 20 during his MLB career. He resigned from the NL in 1999 as a failed mass bargaining strategy, but he was rehired by MLB before the 2005 season.

Tom Hallion
Hallion in 2011
Born: (1956-09-05) September 5, 1956
Saugerties, New York
debut
June 10, 1985
Crew Information
Umpiring crew8
Crew members
Career highlights and awards
Special Assignments

Early and personal life

Hallion was born on September 5, 1956, to Alice and Francis Hallion in Saugerties, New York. He has two sisters, Kathy Cotich and Maribeth, and a brother, Francis.[1]

Hallion attended the University at Buffalo. He married Elizabeth "Betsy" Carnright on September 11, 1983. They have three children, Corey, Kyle and Jacob, and reside in Louisville, Kentucky.[2][3]

Umpiring career

While a student at the University at Buffalo, Hallion got his first umpiring job through his friend Jack Keeley; he worked games for the Saugerties Athletic Association softball league. In 1979, he attended Bill Kinnamon Umpiring School.

He began his professional umpiring career in the New York–Penn League (1979), which was followed by stints in the Carolina League (1980–81), Eastern League (1982) and American Association (1983–85) before joining the NL staff. He was among the umpires who lost their jobs after resigning as part of a failed union bargaining strategy in 1999, but he was rehired in a December 2004 settlement with MLB.[4]

He has officiated in the World Series in 2008, the League Championship Series in 1998, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011, and in the Division Series in 1996, 1997, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019. He has also worked the All-Star Game in 1992 and 2008, being at second base for the latter contest at Yankee Stadium which went a record 15 innings.

In 2013, Hallion was fined by MLB for swearing at pitcher David Price.[5]

Hallion is known for his exciting and demonstrative strikeout signal in which he twists his body 180 degrees. Hallion wore uniform number 20 during his NL career and retained the number when he rejoined the MLB umpire staff in 2005.

Notable games

Hallion was the home plate umpire on July 12, 1997, when Francisco Córdova and Ricardo Rincón of the Pittsburgh Pirates combined on a 3–0, 10-inning no-hitter against the Houston Astros.[6]

In 2009, he was the home plate umpire for the first game at the New Yankee Stadium.[7] On July 10 of that season, Hallion was the first base umpire when San Francisco Giants pitcher Jonathan Sánchez no-hit the San Diego Padres.[8]

On June 8, 2010, he was behind the plate when Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 batters in his MLB debut.[9] Hallion was the second base umpire for Henderson Álvarez's no-hitter on September 29, 2013.[10]

Hallion has umpired in international play several times. He worked the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and was behind the plate for the championship game between Japan and Cuba. His crew was also selected to umpire the 2012 MLB Japan Series between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics. Hallion was the home-plate umpire for the first of the two games.

A leaked recording from May 28, 2016, showcased Hallion's conversation with New York Mets manager Terry Collins after pitcher Noah Syndergaard was ejected for attempting to throw a beanball at Chase Utley. The recording went viral as it offered an uncensored view into an on-field interaction between an umpire and a manager.[11]

See also

References
  1. Saugerties Sports Hall of Fame Club saugertieshof.com (accessed August 1, 2010) Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. National League Green Book 1999, p. 49.
  3. Berkow, Ira New York Times, April 4, 2005 (accessed August 1, 2010)
  4. "Six more will split $2.3M in severance pay". ESPN. Associated Press. December 24, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  5. Crasnick, Jerry. "David Price, Tom Hallion fined". espn.go.com. May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  6. "Boxscore of July 12, 1997 game at Three Rivers Stadium". Retrosheet. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  7. Yankees open new stadium with blowout loss to Indians ESPN.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012
  8. Sanchez makes most of opportunity, throws no-hitter in front of father ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012
  9. Strasburg lives up to hype by reaching 100 mph with fastball to fan Pirates ESPN.com. Retrieved 2 July 2012
  10. ESPN.com Retrieved September 29, 2013
  11. http://www.facebook.com/des.bieler. "That viral video of a manager's profane rant? MLB is trying to rid it from the Internet". Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
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