John Francis Tumpane (born May 4, 1983) is an American

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 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 nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

wearing number 74.

Umpiring career

He made his major league umpiring debut on August 2, 2010. He umpired in six major league games in 2010, and returned in 2011, umpiring in 68 games. On July 1, 2016, Tumpane was promoted to the full-time MLB umpiring staff. In August 2015, Dodgers catcher

Yasmani Grandal Yasmani Grandal (born November 8, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Bre ...

complained about Tumpane’s strike zone, saying "This whole season I’ve been fighting that guy... It's one of those frustrating things where you don't really know what it is he's going to call." In October 2020, third baseman

Josh Donaldson Joshua Adam Donaldson (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Atla ...

tweeted his opinion that Tumpane was a "Top 3 worst ump in the game," adding "Trust me this guy has no idea what the zone is in the rule book."

Notable games

On August 21, 2015, he was the

home plate umpire In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

for

Mike Fiers Michael Bruce Fiers (; born June 15, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. Fiers has ...

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 wh ...

against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. On May 4, 2018, he was the home plate umpire for

Walker Buehler Walker Anthony Buehler (born July 28, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores and was a member of their 2014 College W ...

Tony Cingrani Anthony Michael Cingrani (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to playing professionally, he playe ...

, Yimi Garcia, and Adam Liberatore's of the

combined no-hitter against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. On August 25, 2020, Tumpane was the

second base umpire In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is ...

for a no-hitter thrown by

Lucas Giolito Lucas Frost Giolito (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, California, and was selected by the Washington Na ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. For game 2 of the 2020 American League Championship Series, played on October 12, 2020, Tumpane was credited with a 99.3% correctly called game in which he correctly called as ball or strike 134 of 135 pitches at which a batter did not swing. On September 27, 2022, Tumpane, serving as first base umpire, called an MLB-record 3 balks on

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

pitcher

Richard Bleier Richard Sidney Bleier (born April 16, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. In hig ...

while Bleier was pitching to the same batter; Bleier had never been called for a balk in his MLB career previously, over the course of 303 games in seven seasons. CBS Sports opined: "Some balks are obvious. Those are not... You almost have to be looking for a reason to call a balk to ring Bleier up on that motion three -- again, three! -- times in a single inning."

Personal life

Tumpane is a 2001 graduate of Saint Laurence High School in

Burbank, Illinois Burbank is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 29,439 at the 2020 census. It is located at the southwest edge of the city of Chicago; the Chicago city limit – specifically that of the Ashburn neighborhood &nda ...

. On June 28, 2017, Tumpane helped prevent a suicide attempt on the

Roberto Clemente Bridge The Roberto Clemente Bridge, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History First bridge The original bridge at the site was a wooden covered bridge with six spans, ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

prior to umpiring a game between the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

and the

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tumpane, John 1983 births Living people Major League Baseball umpires People from Evergreen Park, Illinois Sportspeople from Illinois

Umpiring career

Notable games

Personal life

See also

References

External links