Victor Joseph Carapazza (born July 6, 1979) 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'', ...

. He wears uniform number 19, and previously wore uniform number 85.

Personal life

Carapazza was born in

Port Jefferson, New York Port Jefferson (informally known as "Port Jeff") is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. Officially known as the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, the population ...

. In 1998 he graduated from

Countryside High School Countryside High School, also known as CHS, is a public high school located in Clearwater, Florida.Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

.MLB Profile on Vic Carapazza
/ref> Prior to becoming an umpire Carapazza served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. He has four daughters with his wife Stephanie and is the son-in-law of former

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 ...

umpire

Rich Garcia Richard Raul Garcia (born May 22, 1942) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1975 to 1999. Garcia wore uniform number 19 when the AL adopted numbers for its umpires in 1980. Umpiring ca ...

Umpiring career

From 2003 until 2012 Carapazza was an umpire with several minor leagues, including the

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 level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He began umpiring Major League Spring Training in 2009. Carapazza made his

umpiring debut on April 9, 2010, in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

as 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 ...

defeated the

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

9–3, working

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in that game. He umpired in 29 games in 2010, and returned in 2011, umpiring in 133 games. Carapazza was hired to the full-time Major League Baseball staff in early January 2013. He served as the right-field umpire during the

2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 85th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Twins. This was the third All-Star Game played in the Twin Ci ...

, marking his first such assignment. Carapazza also umpired in the

2014 National League Division Series The National League Division Series was two best-of-five-game series to determine the participating teams in the 2014 National League Championship Series. The Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals (seeded 1–3 base ...

, and in Game 2 he ejected

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

second baseman

Asdrúbal Cabrera Asdrúbal José Cabrera (; born November 13, 1985) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Ra ...

and manager Matt Williams in the 10th inning for arguing balls and strikes. Carapazza faced controversy after a game on July 1, 2016, between the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

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 F ...

. Blue Jay fans booed Carapazza in response to calls made during the 2015 American League Division Series. Carapazza went on to eject Blue Jay players Russell Martin, Edwin Encarnacion, manager

John Gibbons John Michael Gibbons (born June 8, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Gibbons briefly played in the Major Leagues as a catcher with the New York Me ...

, and called 9 Jays out-on-strikes, compared to only 1 of the visiting Indians. Carapazza has called three consecutive American League Division Series (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

). For the 2018 regular season he was found to be a Top 10 performing home plate umpire in terms of accuracy in calling balls and strikes. His error rate was 8.05 percent. This was based on a study conducted at Boston University where 372,442 pitches were culled and analyzed. Carapazza was the home plate umpire for

Joe Musgrove Joseph Anthony Musgrove (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played within the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, and Pittsburgh Pirates organ ...

's no-hitter on April 9, 2021.

References

External links

SBRForum.com: MLB Baseball : Vic Carapazza

The Baseball Cube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carapazza, Vic 1979 births Living people Baseball people from New York (state) Major League Baseball umpires People from Port Jefferson, New York United States Air Force airmen

Personal life

Umpiring career

See also

References

External links