Larry Wayne Vanover (born August 22, 1955) is an American professional baseball

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'', ...

. Vanover worked in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

from 1991 to 1999. He did not umpire in 2000 and 2001, and since 2002 has umpired across both major leagues. Vanover has umpired in three

Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

( 2006,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

), three

League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, an ...

( 2003, 2007, 2011), and the

2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...

. He also has officiated in two All Star Games (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

) and the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference tie ...

Career

Vanover worked in several minor leagues before his major league debut in 1991. He officiated in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, Southern League,

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, Pacific Coast League, International League and

Venezuelan League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

. Vanover was behind the plate when

Marge Schott Margaret Carolyn Schott (née Unnewehr; August 18, 1928 – March 2, 2004) was an American baseball executive. Serving as managing general partner, president and CEO of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise from 1984 to 1999, she was ...

came on the field just prior to an April 1996 Astros–Reds doubleheader and apologized to Vanover for her Opening Day comments following the death of umpire

John McSherry John Patrick McSherry (September 11, 1944April 1, 1996) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1971 until his death. McSherry wore uniform number 9 when he entered the National League, then wore num ...

. The Opening Day game had been postponed after McSherry collapsed on the field; he died at a local hospital. After the game was postponed, Schott had said, "I feel cheated." Vanover was one of 22 umpires who resigned during the

1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation The 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation was a labor tactic used by 68 Major League Baseball (MLB) umpires, including 66 members of the Major League Umpires Association (MLUA), the official umpires union at the time. Unable to str ...

. The negotiation strategy failed when baseball officials simply accepted the resignations and hired replacement umpires. After a protracted legal battle, Vanover and eight other umpires regained their major league jobs for the 2002 season. MLB appointed Vanover to serve as crew chief for the 2014 Legend Series at

Rod Carew Stadium Rod, Ror, Ród, Rőd, Rød, Röd, ROD, or R.O.D. may refer to: Devices * Birch rod, made out of twigs from birch or other trees for corporal punishment * Ceremonial rod, used to indicate a position of authority * Connecting rod, main, couplin ...

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, on March 15–16. Vanover spent the 2014 season as an interim crew chief while regular crew chief

Tim McClelland Timothy Reid McClelland (born December 12, 1951) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1983 to 1999 and throughout both leagues from 2000 until his retirement prior to the 2015 season. He c ...

was on the disabled list. In September 2014, Vanover was the home plate umpire for Derek Jeter's final game. Vanover was officially promoted to permanent crew chief upon McClelland's retirement prior to the 2015 season. On May 24, 2019, Vanover umpired his 3,000th MLB game.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanover, Larry 1955 births Living people Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky

Career

See also

References

External links