Martin Robert Foster (born November 25, 1963) is an American former

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 ...

umpire. After first working 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 ...

in 1996, he was added to the MLB umpiring staff in 2000. Foster retired following the 2022 season.

Umpiring career

Before reaching the major leagues, Foster umpired in the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, Southern League,

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 ...

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

, and American Association. His first post-season assignment was the

2006 National League Division Series The 2006 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a " wild card" team� ...

. He also umpired the

2008 American League Division Series The 2008 American League Division Series (ALDS), the first round of the 2008 American League playoffs in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 2008 postseason, consisted of two best-of-five series to determine the two participants in the 2008 Americ ...

and the 2002 All-Star Game.

Notable games

Foster was the home plate umpire on July 15, 2005, in a game between the

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, where, after the benches had been warned,

Runelvys Hernández Runelvys Antonio Hernandez (; born April 27, 1978) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Career Hernandez made his major league debut July 15, , with Kansas City Royals. His encouraging rookie campaign manifested itsel ...

hit

Carlos Guillén Carlos Alfonso Guillén (born September 30, 1975) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. Guillén was signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft a ...

in the head with a pitch sparking a brawl that lasted nearly 10 minutes, and resulted in 7 players being ejected. Foster was the home plate umpire for 300th career win of

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

, on August 5, 2007, at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. He was the second base umpire for

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

pitcher

Matt Garza Matthew Scott Garza (born November 26, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Minnesota Twins, and also played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, Texas ...

's no hitter against the

on July 26, . Foster ejected Tigers manager

Jim Leyland James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to t ...

from that game during the third inning. In a 2001 spring training game, Foster was the plate umpire during Major League Baseball's first use of video monitoring of umpire

strike zone In baseball, the strike zone is the area of space through which a pitch must pass in order to be called a strike even if the batter does not swing. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate and between the batter's kne ...

s. The video monitoring was part of an effort by baseball officials to enforce the rule book definition of the strike zone. Foster was at first base in the last game played at the

old Yankee Stadium The original Yankee Stadium was located in the Bronx in New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008, except for 1974–1975 when it was renovated. It hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-yea ...

. While serving as the plate umpire during an April 8, 2013, game between the

and Texas Rangers, Foster made a controversial strike three call on

Ben Zobrist Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chica ...

that catcher A. J. Pierzynski did not even try to frame. It ended the game and gave

Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Detro ...

, who was seen on camera saying "Wow!" after this call, his 300th career save. While serving as the plate umpire again an April 7, 2018, game between the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, Foster made a controversial strike three call on

Anthony Rendon Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...

. Rendon flipped his bat, prompting Foster to eject him along with Nationals manager

Dave Martinez David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the manager for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for the Tampa Bay ...

References

External links

Major league profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Marty 1963 births Living people American League umpires Major League Baseball umpires

Umpiring career

Notable games

See also

References

External links