Dale Scott

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Dale Scott bigraphy, stories - American baseball umpire

Dale Scott : biography

August 14, 1959 –

Dale Allan Scott (born August 14, 1959) is an umpire in Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1986 to 1999, and has officiated in both leagues since 2000, becoming a crew chief in 2001. He has worn uniform number 5 throughout his career, and kept the number when the AL and NL umpiring staffs merged in 2000. Scott’s 2011 crew included C.B. Bucknor, Jerry Meals and Dan Iassogna.

Umpiring career

Scott began umpiring at age 15, and entered the minor leagues in 1981, eventually working his way up to the American Association. He umpired in the World Series in 1998, 2001 and 2004, in the All-Star Game in 1993, 2001, and 2011, calling balls and strikes. He has also worked in five League Championship Series (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009 ) and in nine Division Series (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011).

When the AL introduced red shirts in 1996, Scott frequently was the only umpire to wear the color, rather than the usual navy blue. He almost always wore the red shirt when working home plate, including Game 3 of the 1998 World Series at Qualcomm Stadium.

Controversies

On May 30, 1988, Scott ejected New York Yankees manager Billy Martin from a game against the Oakland Athletics. Martin was suspended for three games for throwing dirt at Scott during the argument.

On April 15, 2012, Scott was behind the plate for a game between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. With two men on and no one out, Jesús Guzmán of the Padres attempted to lay down a bunt. It hit the end of the bat and the ball appeared to land in front of home plate and roll foul. Before the ball stopped rolling or a player touched the ball, Scott then put up both hands improperly ruling the ball foul. Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis picked up the ball and threw it to third, where it was thrown to second, and finally to first for a triple play. Padres manager Bud Black was ejected by Scott after he argued that Scott had ruled the ball foul, thus making all following actions by the Dodgers irrelevant.

Notable games

On July 1, 1990, Scott was the home plate umpire as Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees pitched eight hitless innings in a road game against the Chicago White Sox, yet lost; it was only the second game in history in which a pitcher lost a complete game no-hitter.

Scott was the first base umpire when Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander threw a no-hitter at Comerica Park against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 12, . ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 July 2012 Five days prior to Verlander’s no-hitter, Scott was also at first base in a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics in which Boston pitcher Curt Schilling had a no-hitter until Shannon Stewart broke up the no-hitter with a single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 July 2012

Scott worked his 3,000th career, regular season MLB game in St. Louis on his 50th birthday, August 14, 2009.

He was the third base umpire for Verlander’s second no-hitter, thrown on May 7, against the Toronto Blue Jays. ESPN.com. Retrieved July 27, 2012

Scott was the third base umpire when six Seattle Mariners pitchers combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 8, 2012. ESPN.com. Retrieved 14 June 2012

Personal

Scott worked as a radio personality at KBDF, a Top 40 station in Eugene, Oregon, in the late 1970s. He is an avid Oregon Ducks football fan, and often attends games at Autzen Stadium when given the opportunity.