Larry Barnett
Encyclopedia
Nitro, West Virginia
Nitro is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city lies in Kanawha County, with the remainder in Putnam County. The population was 7,178 at the 2010 census.Nitro was incorporated in 1932 by Circuit Court.- City name origin :...
) is a former umpire
Umpire (baseball)
In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
who worked in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
from 1969 to 1999 before becoming the major leagues' supervisor of umpires in 2000-2001.
Career
Barnett's 32 years of AL service surpassed the record held by Tommy ConnollyTom Connolly
Thomas Henry Connolly was an English-American umpire in Major League Baseball. He officiated in the National League from 1898 to 1900, followed by 31 years of service in the American League from 1901 to 1931...
(1901–31), which was tied by Barnett and Don Denkinger
Don Denkinger
Donald Anton Denkinger is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1969 to 1998. Denkinger wore uniform number 11, when the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980. He is best remembered for an incorrect call he made at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World...
in 1998; through the 2005
2005 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series.*2005 also marked the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals, who relocated from Montreal and were formerly known as the Expos....
season, Joe Brinkman
Joe Brinkman
Joseph Norbert Brinkman is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1973 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 until his retirement during the 2006 season....
has umpired AL games in 33 seasons, although the major league umpiring staffs were merged in 2000. Barnett officiated in 4 World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
: 1975
1975 World Series
The 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...
, 1981
1981 World Series
The 1981 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, marking their third meeting in the Series in five years as well as a record eleventh Series meeting overall and last Series meeting to date...
, 1984
1984 World Series
The 1984 World Series began on October 9 and ended on October 14, 1984. The American League champion Detroit Tigers played against the National League champion San Diego Padres, with the Tigers winning the series four games to one....
and 1990
1990 World Series
- Game 1 :Tuesday, October 16, 1990 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioUntil , this was the last World Series to be scheduled to begin play on a Tuesday, and the first since . The schedule called for the seven-game series to be held Tue–Wed, Fri–Sat–Sun, Tue–Wed. Games 5, 6, and 7, however...
(Games 1-2), serving as crew chief in 1981. He also umpired in a record 7 American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...
(1972
1972 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 7, 1972 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, CaliforniaGame 1 pitted ace pitchers Catfish Hunter for the A's and Mickey Lolich for the Tigers, and, as expected, both were brilliant...
, 1976
1976 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 9, 1976 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, MissouriThe opener was played on a bright Saturday afternoon at Royals Stadium and pitted Yankee ace Jim “Catfish” Hunter against left-hander and ex-Yankee Larry Gura. The Yankees got off to a quick start scoring two in the first...
, 1979
1979 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 3, 1979 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandGame 1 was a match-up of Nolan Ryan in his final season with the Angels, and Jim Palmer for the Orioles. The Angels jumped out to the early lead when Dan Ford homered in the top of the first. The Angels extended the lead...
, 1982
1982 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 5, 1982 at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, CaliforniaThe Angels jumped to a 1–0 lead in the first when Brian Downing scored an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Don Baylor. Milwaukee came back to take a 3–1 lead with a two-run homer by Gorman Thomas in the second and a run...
, 1986
1986 American League Championship Series
The 1986 American League Championship Series was a back-and-forth battle between the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels for the right to advance to the 1986 World Series to face the winner of the 1986 National League Championship Series...
, 1991
1991 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 8, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MinnesotaGame 1 saw a surprise starter for Toronto as Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston chose knuckleballer Tom Candiotti to face the Twins over his new young gun Juan Guzmán and his left-handed ace Jimmy Key. Twins...
, 1996
1996 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 9, 1996 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe first game of the series is most notable for the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." With the Yankees trailing 4–3 in the bottom of the eighth, rookie Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Orioles reliever...
), and in 4 All-Star
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
games (1973, 1980, 1988, 1997), calling balls and strikes for the last contest. He was also the home plate umpire for Vida Blue
Vida Blue
Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 17-year career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Francisco Giants , and Kansas City Royals He won the American League Cy Young award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971...
's no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
on September 21, 1970. He wore uniform number 22 starting in 1980 when the AL adopted uniform numbers.
Game 3 of the 1975 World Series
Perhaps the most controversial call of Barnett's career came in Game 3 of the 1975 World Series, in which he was working behind home plate. In the 10th inning, Cincinnati Reds1975 Cincinnati Reds season
The 1975 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Reds winning the National League West with a record of 108-54, 20 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds went on to win the National League Championship Series by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in...
hitter Ed Armbrister
Ed Armbrister
Edison Rosanda "Ed" Armbrister is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a five-year career from 1973 through 1977 with the Cincinnati Reds...
laid down a sacrifice bunt, and then collided with Boston Red Sox
1975 Boston Red Sox season
The Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing first in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 65 losses...
catcher Carlton Fisk
Carlton Fisk
Carlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...
who was trying to field the ball. Fisk committed a throwing error on the play after colliding with Armbrister, which led to the Reds' winning run. Barnett declined to make an interference call on Armbrister, despite Boston's pleas. Barnett's failure to call an interference was criticized by some as wrong-headed and indefensible. NBC television broadcaster Curt Gowdy
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...
(a former Red Sox announcer) was particularly harsh in his comments, prompting threats to the network from Major League Baseball and ultimately leading NBC to drop Gowdy from its baseball coverage. Gowdy had been given the correct interpretation by NBC Radio Producer Jay Scott (who was a Triple-A fill-in umpire at the time as well), but did not use it. Barnett claimed he had received death threats on account of Gowdy's criticism.
Major League Baseball continues to this day to maintain that Barnett made the correct call. In fact, the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation (the organization that oversees all minor league baseball umpires) instructs and teaches its umpires to make the same call as Barnett did should the same incident occur in a future game. Specifically, Major League Baseball has interpreted Rule 7.09(l) as saying "a catcher trying to field a batted ball that remains in the immediate vicinity of the plate cannot be protected because of the right of the batter-runner to begin his advance to first. Barring an intentional action on the part of either player, contact in this instance is incidental, and is not interference..." (Jaksa/Roder Umpires' Manual, 1997 Edition. Pg. 57).
Prior to Game 2 of the 1986 World Series
1986 World Series
The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game...
, NBC did a feature on replays narrated by Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
. One of the plays cited by Costas was the Armbrister play, and Barnett and Costas both insisted that Barnett had made the correct call, although Barnett declared, "You won't find many people in Boston who believe it was the right call." Costas used the feature to condemn the suggested notion of instant replay
Instant replay
Instant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident very soon after it has occurred. In television broadcasting of sports events, instant replay is often used during live broadcast, to show a passage of play which was important or remarkable, or which was unclear on first...
to settle calls, noting that it was the "same kind of mentality that adds color to classic movies and calls it progress."
Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS
Barnett was also behind the plate for Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series1996 American League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 9, 1996 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe first game of the series is most notable for the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." With the Yankees trailing 4–3 in the bottom of the eighth, rookie Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Orioles reliever...
, better known as the Jeffrey Maier game
Jeffrey Maier
Jeffrey Maier is an American baseball fan best known for an incident in which he was involved as a twelve-year-old at a baseball game, when he deflected a batted ball in-play into the stands during Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the...
after the 12-year-old spectator who reached over the right field fence to catch Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...
's fly ball. The play was ruled a home run by right field umpire Rich Garcia
Rich Garcia
Richard Raul Garcia is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1975 to 1999...
, who later admitted that the ruling was likely incorrect.