Lazaro Antonio Díaz Sr. (born March 29, 1963) is an American umpire in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

wearing number 63, a reference to his year of birth. He joined the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

's full-time staff in 1999, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. Díaz was promoted to crew chief for the 2022 season, becoming the second full time Latino crew chief, after Alfonso Marquez. His professional umpiring career began after he attended the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in 1991. He worked his way up to 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 (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

for the 1995 season. Díaz was one of the 22 umpires promoted to the major leagues in the wake of the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation. Prior to his professional umpiring career, he served in the Marine Corps Reserves. Díaz was attacked by an intoxicated fan while umpiring first base in a game at Comiskey Park in April 2003. The fan, Eric Dybas, a self-described Cubs fan, had attended a game at Wrigley Field earlier in the day and had been drinking all day. Laz stifled the attack, and the fan was later sentenced to up to 180 days in jail and one month of probation for aggravated battery. Díaz was the second base umpire when Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's career home run record. On July 23, 2009, Díaz was the third base umpire for Mark Buehrle's perfect game. He has worked the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

in 2007, 2017 and 2020, the American League Championship Series in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, 2015, 2016, and 2021, the Division Series in 2002, 2006, 2007,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 2017 and 2020 and the Wild Card in 2020, 2021 and 2022. He also umpired the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

in 2000 and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Díaz is featured in Pepsi commercials with 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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

' Johnny Damon, the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

' Joe Mauer and broadcaster Gary Thorne. On March 7, 2010, Díaz was inducted to the Cuban Hall of Fame. During a game on May 30, 2012, Díaz got into an unusual argument with

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) Am ...

catcher Russell Martin. According to Martin, Díaz punished the catcher for disputing the strike zone by not letting him throw new baseballs out to the pitcher (a preference of Martin's) and claiming that this ability had to be "earned". MLB Executive VP for Baseball Operations Joe Torre spoke to Díaz and Martin about the incident, but Martin said he did not expect any disciplinary action for either man. MLB selected Diaz to officiate its 2014 Opening Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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, during March 20–23, 2014.Imber, Gil.
Roster: 2014 Opening Series (Sydney, Australia) Umpires
" ''Close Call Sports/Umpire Ejection Fantasy League.'' Retrieved March 16, 2014.

References

External links

Major league profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Laz 1963 births African-American referees and umpires American sportspeople of Cuban descent Living people Major League Baseball umpires Sportspeople from Miami 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen African-American baseball people

See also

References

External links