“It’s sad. It’s Jerry’s last year and I wanted to stay with him. I was caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Hallion, who filled in as a acting chief when Crawford was sidelined by a bad back last year.Crawford pushed him to accept the position.
The retirement of four
chiefs allowed for the
shuffling and creation of
new crews. Hallion’s new
crew includes Ed Rapuano,
Ron Kulpa and Lance
Barksdale.
Rapuano actually filled in
when Crawford was out in ’09
and he also worked with
Hallion in the ’08 All-Star
Game at Yankee Stadium.
“I’ve worked a little bit
with Eddie and Ron. I’ve
never worked with Lance,”
Hallion said.
The crew makes its’ debut
next Monday afternoon in
Kansas City when the Royals
open against the Detroit
Tigers. The unit heads to
Texas after that for the
Rangers and the Seattle
Mariners.
Hallion’s crew will spend
much of its time this season
west of the Mississippi
River. After the first
weekend, they go to
Colorado, San Diego,
Arizona, then back to Texas.
Their schedule calls for
only two trips to New York,
including a late-season
series at Yankee Stadium,
and no visits to Boston.
“My niece lives up there in
Boston. I had to break the
bad news that I’m not
heading that way,” Hallion
said.
His first major league game
was in 1985, but Hallion was
out of baseball in ’99 as
part of a failed stand by
umpires which led to 22
arbiters’ resignations being
accepted.
He returned as a minor
league ump in ’03, made his
way back to the majors by
’05 and was fully reinstated
in ’07.
In another instance of
coming full circle, Hallion
was part of the negotiating
team for the World Umpires
Association that hammered
out a new five-year
collective bargaining
agreement that was
unanimously approved.
It was the largest umpiring
contract ever signed,
Hallion said.
Adding to the irony was
Hallion sitting across the
table during negotiations
from Rob Manfred, MLB’s
Executive Vice President for
Labor Relations. Manfred was
involved in the MLB’s
handling of the ’99
situation that led to
Hallion’s dismissmal.
“It was kind of
interesting,” remarked
Hallion, who plans to umpire
for at least five or more
six years in order to help
out with the next contract.
As for memories with
Crawford’s crew, last Aug.
26 in Toronto won’t be
forgotten anytime soon.
Hallion had to replace
Crawford behind the plate
early in the game when the
veteran crew chief took a
foul ball off his face mask.
In the sixth inning, Travis
Snider swung and missed at a
Scott Kazmir pitch that
crossed up Tampa Bay catcher
Gregg Zaun. The 92-mph pitch
hit smacked Hallion in the
chest, bringing him down.
“He was calling for a slider
outside. Kazmir threw a
fastball inside,” Hallion
remembered.
“It was like I got shot.
“It was never touched. It
got the bottom of the chest
protector and part of the
flesh.”
It didn’t leave a Rawling’s
logo on him, but a “bruise
that ended up six different
shades of color.”
Medical staff rushed to his
side and a cart was brought
out, but he eventually rose
and walked off without
assistance. After a
21-minute delay, Hallion
returned to handle third
base.
“Jerry was already out. I
wasn’t going to leave us
down to two guys,” he said.
“They let me go stand at
third base and help with the
rotation. They made me
promise not to move.”
The bruise eventually went
away. Hallion accepts the
risk, saying “It was the
nature of the beast.” He
did, though, get a new chest
protector.
“(Umpiring legend) Joe West
makes a vest that’s a little
longer,” he said. “The next
day he called me and said,
‘Your new protector is on
the way and you’ll have it
before the next time behind
the plate.”
