Gary L. Cederstrom (born October 4, 1955) is an American retired
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) ...
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 1989 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 to 2019. He wore number 38 throughout his career and was promoted to crew chief for the 2008 season.
Career
He umpired in four
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...
(
2005,
2011,
2015, and
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 ...
), the last two as the series Crew Chief. He also worked two
All-Star Games (
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
,
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 ...
), and in seven
League Championship Series: (
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 ...
,
2006,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
,
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,
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 ...
,
2016). He also officiated in seven Division Series (
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 ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 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 ...
,
2005,
2010,
2011,
2015).
Cederstrom was the third base 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 ...
stole third to break
Lou Brock
Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis ...
's career record.
He was the first base umpire when
Eddie Murray collected his 3000th hit. He was also the third base umpire when
Derek Jeter got his 2,721st career hit to tie
Lou Gehrig for most hits as a Yankee. He was at second base when
Jeter
Jeter is a surname. Notable people with this surname include:
Sports Baseball
* Derek Jeter (born 1974), American baseball player
* Johnny Jeter (baseball) (born 1944), American baseball player
* Shawn Jeter (born 1966), American baseball player
...
got his 3,000 career hit.
Cederstrom was at third base for
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher
Matt Garza's no hitter against 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
on July 26, . Cederstrom was behind the plate on June 1, 2012, when
Johan Santana 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 St. Louis.
He was the home plate umpire for Game 6 of the
2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2011 season. The 107th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Texas Rangers and the Na ...
.
He 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.
Umpires for Wild Card Games, Division Series announced Darling, Kellogg Will Serve As Crew Chiefs for Wild Card Games; Davis, DeMuth, Gorman and West Assigned to Lead Division Series Crews
''MLB.com.'' Retrieved October 5, 2012.
In , Cederstrom was the crew chief for the National League Wild Card Game
The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was first instituted in 2012; best-of-three ...
and the American League Championship Series. In 2019, Cederstrom was the crew chief for the American League Division Series A and the World Series.
Personal life
Born in Bismarck, North Dakota, Cederstrom's hometown is Minot. He graduated from Minot High School
Minot High School (MHS) is the public high school in Minot, North Dakota, divided between two main campuses: Magic City (grades 11-12) and Central (grades 9-10). MHS also includes an alternative campus: Souris River Campus.
Athletics
The boys' ...
in 1973, 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 ...
for the Beavers.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball umpires
References
External links
Major league profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cederstrom, Gary
1955 births
Living people
Minot State University alumni
Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota
Sportspeople from Bismarck, North Dakota
Major League Baseball umpires