Terry Lee Craft (born December 9, 1954) is a former professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
umpire who worked in the
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 ...
from 1987 to 1999 and throughout both
major leagues from 2000 to 2006. Craft umpired 1,734 major league games in his 20-year career. He umpired in two no-hitters, a
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
, an
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. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...
, and two
Division Series.
Early career
After graduating from McKell High School in
South Shore, Kentucky
South Shore is a home rule-class city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,122 at the 2010 census, down from 1,226 in 2000. It is located along the Ohio River across from Portsmouth, Ohio, at the mouth of Tygarts Cr ...
, Craft enlisted in the
U.S. Army. During his seven years on active duty, Craft began to umpire baseball games. He attended the Bill Kinnamon Umpire School after his military discharge.
[ From 1979 to 1986, Craft worked in several minor leagues, including the Appalachian League, South Atlantic League, Carolina League, Southern League, International League and Dominican Winter League.][
]
MLB career
Craft broke into Major League Baseball as a reserve umpire in 1987. He moved up from the International League when needed to cover for MLB umpire vacations. He worked portions of six major league seasons, working predominantly at the major league level for the 1992 season. He was officially called up to the full-time MLB staff in 1993. Craft was one of only a handful of umpires who did not submit resignations during the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation.
Craft worked the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the 2003 American League Championship Series, and two Division Series (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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
and 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 ...
). He umpired in two MLB no-hitters. In 1990, he was on the field when Dave Stewart threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1993, Jim Abbott did the same against the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...
.[ He was also the home plate umpire when ]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 ...
broke Ty Cobb's American League stolen base record.
Personal life
Craft lives in Colorado. He has a wife and two children. He attended Shawnee State University
Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university in Portsmouth, Ohio. Established in 1986, Shawnee State is an open admissions university. It is the southernmost member of the University System of Ohio.
History
Although its roots date ...
.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball umpires
References
External links
The Sporting News umpire card
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Terry
1954 births
Living people
Major League Baseball umpires
Sportspeople from Ohio
People from Portsmouth, Ohio
People from South Shore, Kentucky
Shawnee State University alumni