Jeffrey Brian Nelson (born June 1, 1965) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

umpire in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB), who was named to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) staff prior to the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

season, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. A graduate of Bethel University in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, he wears uniform number 45. Nelson was promoted to crew chief starting with the 2014 season.

Umpiring career

Nelson was named as the Top Prospect at the

Joe Brinkman Joseph Norbert Brinkman (born April 9, 1944) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1972 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 until his retirement during the 2006 se ...

Umpiring School in 1989. He was promoted to the National League prior to the 1999 season along with Paul Nauert to fill vacancies left by the retirements of Jim Quick and

Harry Wendelstedt Harry Hunter Wendelstedt Jr. (July 27, 1938 – March 9, 2012) was an umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1966 to 1998. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He umpired in the World Series in 1973, 1980, 1986, ...

. While in the minor leagues, Nelson was the chief rules instructor at the former Brinkman-Froemming umpire school in Cocoa, Florida from 1997 until the school's closing in 1998. He continues to teach at umpire clinics in the off-season. Additionally, Nelson is currently the secretary/treasurer of the major league umpires' union, the

Major League Baseball Umpires Association The Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA) is an organization of Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire (baseball), umpires. It was certified by the National Labor Relations Board on February 24, 2000, as the World Umpires Association (WUA ...

. During his career, Nelson has received several postseason assignments, including the 2005 World Series, 2009 World Series, 2014 World Series and the

2018 World Series The 2018 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2018 season. The 114th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Lea ...

. He also worked the League Championship Series in 2002,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2010, 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2015, 2016,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

; and the Division Series in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, 2005,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, 2009,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and 2018. Nelson has also umpired in the 2006 and 2014 MLB All-Star Games. Nelson was behind home plate when

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

hit his 500th home run, and worked the game in which

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

made his 3,000th hit. Nelson served as the second base umpire when

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

against the Houston Astros at Miller Park on September 14, 2008. Nelson was the plate umpire for a

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

–

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

game on September 27, 2012, when Tigers pitcher Doug Fister set an

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

record by striking out nine consecutive batters. During Game 2 of the 2012 American League Championship Series, Nelson ejected

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Joe Girardi for arguing a missed call at second base after Nelson incorrectly ruled

infielder Omar Infante was safe. He later acknowledged his safe call was wrong. Nelson was chosen as one of the umpires for the one-game Wild Card playoff between the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

and the St. Louis Cardinals on October 5, 2012. Nelson worked home plate for Game 7 of the 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Nelson was the plate umpire for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

game on August 12, 2015, when Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma threw a

. Nelson was the home plate umpire for the

2015 National League Wild Card Game The 2015 National League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 postseason played between the National League's (NL) two wild card teams, the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. In MLB, the two teams w ...

between the Chicago Cubs and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

. While working home plate during Game 3 of the

2019 American League Championship Series The 2019 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven series between the two winners of the 2019 American League Division Series, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, for the American League (AL) pennant and the right to play in ...

, Nelson took two foul balls off his mask and was forced to leave the game after the fourth inning due to suffering a concussion. He would miss the remainder of the series and was replaced by Mike Everitt.

References

External links

Major League profilePhoto, arguing with Reds manager Bob Boone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jeff 1965 births Living people Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota People from Cottage Grove, Minnesota Bethel University (Minnesota) alumni

Umpiring career

See also

References

External links