James Gilbert McKean (May 26, 1945 – January 24, 2019) was a Canadian

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) who worked in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL) from 1974 to 1999, and in both major leagues in 2000 and 2001. He umpired in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. He also officiated in five

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

(

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

) and three

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

games (1980, 1982, 1993), calling balls and strikes for the last game, as well as the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

and

1999 American League Division Series The 1999 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the American League side in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 1999 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 5, and ended on Monday, October 11, with the champions of the three AL d ...

. He wore uniform number 8 after the AL adopted uniform numbers in 1980. After his retirement from active umpiring, McKean entered television as an umpiring consultant for ESPN.

Early career

After a high school football career as a star quarterback, McKean received athletic scholarship offers to 35 U.S. schools. Instead, he played junior football with the NDG Maple Leafs and then professionally with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

and the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. Though McKean wanted to make it as a quarterback, he was forced into the punter role when he was traded to Saskatchewan in 1967; the Roughriders were quarterbacked by CFL standout

Ron Lancaster Ronald Lancaster (October 14, 1938 – September 18, 2008) was an American-Canadian professional football player and coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 16 seasons, h ...

. That was McKean's last year in the CFL. McKean had attended NHL referee school and worked as a college hockey referee during the football offseasons. McKean attended baseball umpire school in 1970, then worked in the minor leagues before joining the American League. His minor league service included work in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

, the

Florida Instructional League The Florida Instructional League (FIL), sometimes known informally as "instructs", is an American professional baseball league. The league was founded in 1958. Young major league prospects hone their skills in the FIL, while experienced players may ...

, the Eastern League, the Puerto Rico Winter League and the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

MLB umpiring career

On the field

McKean made it to the major leagues as an umpire in 1974. By 1976, AL umpire supervisor Dick Butler said, "I'll go out on a limb and say that, in my opinion, McKean is the best of our 24 umpires. He has the perfect temperament. He can listen, he can dish it out, he can be serious and he can be humorous. He's 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, no fat and he has the kind of presence that commands respect." He was the third base umpire for Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981. In 1993, he umpired in his tenth

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

, tying a record shared by Silk O'Loughlin and

Paul Pryor John Paul Pryor (July 10, 1927 – December 15, 1995) was an American professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1961 to 1981. Pryor wore uniform number 13 for most of his career. Pryor umpired 3,094 major league games in ...

. Also that year, on May 22, he was involved in a rare incident where he ejected

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

mascot BJ Birdy for trying to influence one of his calls. On April 7, 1997, McKean was the crew chief for a Rangers-Brewers game at Milwaukee when play was halted three times by fans who threw baseballs onto the field; McKean and Milwaukee manager

Phil Garner Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder with the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodge ...

both used microphones to admonish fans to behave. He was also the home plate umpire for the first interleague game in Major League Baseball history between the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and Texas Rangers on June 12, 1997.

Later career

McKean served as an MLB umpire supervisor from 2002 until he was fired (along with fellow supervisors

Rich Garcia Richard Raul Garcia (born May 22, 1942) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1975 to 1999. Garcia wore uniform number 19 when the AL adopted numbers for its umpires in 1980. U ...

and

Marty Springstead Martin John Springstead (July 9, 1937 – January 17, 2012) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1985 and had since worked as an umpire supervisor. He was the youngest umpire ever to serve ...

) in January 2010. MLB did not cite specific reasons for the firings, but Springstead said the actions were related to a series of missed calls by the umpires who worked the 2009 baseball postseason.

Rob Manfred Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Manfred succeeded Bud S ...

, executive vice president for MLB, said, "The change in supervisors is part of our ongoing effort to make our organization as strong as possible." By 2011, McKean was working as an umpiring consultant to

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Personal life

McKean's wife Ann, a breast cancer survivor, died three weeks after a diagnosis of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 2007. McKean's sons Jamie and Brett each won a Division II

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

while playing for the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

. Jamie went on to attend law school. McKean graduated from Monklands High School in Montreal, Quebec. He was inducted into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

in the Class of 2004. McKean died on January 23, 2019, at age 73.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKean, Jim 1945 births 2019 deaths American League umpires Anglophone Quebec people Baseball people from Quebec Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian expatriate baseball people in the United States Canadian football quarterbacks Major League Baseball umpires Montreal Alouettes players Players of Canadian football from Quebec Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Montreal