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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
Reds manager Lou Piniella talks with MLB umpire John McSherry at Riverfront Stadium during the 1990 season.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
Reds manager Lou Piniella talks with MLB umpire John McSherry at Riverfront Stadium during the 1990 season.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
Aug. 18, 1975: Umpire John McSherry halts action so that the baseball Pete Rose smashed for his 2,500th career hit can be retrieved and presented to him.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
Aug. 14, 1986: Ron Oester gets the safe sign from both umpire John McSherry and teammate Eddie Milner as he scored the Reds’ final run in an 8-6 victory over the Giants.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Umpire John McSherry is attended to by Reds trainers and fellow umpire Tommy Hallion. McSherry was pronounced dead at 3:04 p.m.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Home plate umpire John McSherry is attended to after he collapsed after only seven pitches were thrown in the Reds’ Opening Day game against the Montreal Expos.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Umpire John McSherry tries to get up after collapsing in the first inning of play on Cincinnati Reds Opening Day.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Reds third baseman Willie Green watches along with two Montreal players as umpire John McSherry is assisted during the Opening Day game at Riverfront Stadium monday afternoon.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Concerned faces in the Reds Opening Day crowd mirror the serious matter of umpire John McSherry’s collapse during the first inning.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 1, 1996: Reds owner Marge Schott wrings her hands as she stares out to the field after the postponement of the game due the death of umpire John McSherry.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 2, 1996: The umpiring crew gathers at the plate prior to the start of Reds-Expos and gives each other support as they move to take their positions. At right, in shirtsleeves, is home plate umpire Jerry Crawford, who took the place of the late John McSherry.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 2, 1996: Fan Rob Arnold of Union, Kentucky, bows his head in a moment of prayer for the late John McSherry prior to the start of the Reds-Expos game at Riverfront Stadium.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 2, 1996: Reds fans Stephen Deman, 13, (left) and Michael Pappas, 13, both of Kenwood, hold up signs in honor of the late umpire John McSherry during a moment of silence before the start of the Reds-Expos opener.
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30 years ago, umpire collapsed at Reds Opening Day
April 2, 1996: Umpire Jerry Crawford pauses behind home plate as he awaits the Reds batters in the middle of the first inning at Riverfront Stadium. Crawford moved to the plate position after umpire John McSherry died following heart failure in the first inning of the game the previous day.
The Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day game was called on account of tragedy 30 years ago after head umpire John McSherry suffered a fatal heart attack during the first inning.
Seven pitches into the game between the Reds and Montreal Expos on April 1, 1996, McSherry staggered away from home plate and collapsed on the field. Team trainers and paramedics ran to help him while players and a hushed crowd of 50,000 at Riverfront Stadium could only watch and pray.
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Less than an hour later, McSherry was pronounced dead at University Hospital.
The 51-year-old had been a National League umpire since 1971, fondly remembered for his demonstrative calls of balls and strikes. He was known as “Big John” due to his size, 328 pounds, which had contributed to health problems for years, and his heart just gave out.
“He was a class guy, and a good umpire who loved his job,” said then-Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.
The game was postponed, Marge Schott’s comments were critcized
The players asked to postpone the game until the next day.
Reds manager Ray Knight told The Enquirer, “Barry (Larkin) 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.’”
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The flag in center field was lowered to half-staff and the scoreboard flashed a message that the game had been canceled as word of McSherry’s death reached the crowd.
Marge Schott, majority owner of the Reds at the time, was roundly criticized for her insensitive remarks after the game was postponed.
“I feel cheated,” she said. “This isn’t supposed to happen to us, not to Cincinnati. This is our day. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me.”
Enquirer sports columnist Tim Sullivan responded: “Schott has never encountered a situation so bad she could not make it worse, but she reached a new low Monday afternoon.”
April 2, 1996: Umpire Jerry Crawford pauses behind home plate as he awaits the Reds batters in the middle of the first inning at Riverfront Stadium.
The next day, umpire Jerry Crawford paused at home plate for a moment before the game resumed, a 4-1 Reds victory.
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The umpire crew walked out to a standing ovation, but by the fourth inning, the crowd was back to booing the ump.
Back to normal.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 30 years ago, an umpire’s death stopped Reds Opening Day in Cincinnati