Michael Tillery.com

Respect For Blue

June 6th, 2006
by Michael Tillery

Personality. What does this mean to you? A total stranger who has just an ounce who can make you smile, laugh or cry while also invoking thought. Today we reflect as one of the best sports personalities in recent time, Eric Gregg, has passed from a massive stroke he suffered Sunday. He was just 55. He wasn't the best umpire--nor was he the worst--but his effect on the game has been missing since his “when keeping it real goes wrong” loyalty got him unceremoniously—for lack of a better word—fired. He backed a friend and lost a 6 figure job. That's a friend. A real person. The same loyalty wasn't exhibited by some of the umpires in the American League. In today's society people like him are non-existent because they are already gone. Collectively they are toasting glasses of fine wine as dusk appears over the horizon. Eric's glass was that of a Jack and the Beanstalk co-starring giant sized frost brewed mug. He loved his beer and loved the fun. He loved people and loved the baseball sun. He heard the boos when his strike zone caused the home team's favorite player to whiff. “Fat Albert!” “Re Run!” “Hey, Hey, Hey!” “Tons of fun!” Eric would hear it all. By the end of the game he would change sections opinions of him merely with his smile and the demonstrative way he routinely called his games. People adored Eric. They relished the chance of meeting him. A chance moment with Eric could lead to a lifelong friendship. Eric was the epitome of a bar stool, nothing but laughs and good conversation. Don King quote like. Any umpire has stories. Eric's stories were funny. “I want him to be remembered as someone who loved baseball, someone who was determined to make it no matter what,” his son Kevin Gregg told the Associated Press. Gregg told family members Sunday morning at his home in Ardmore, PA that he couldn't feel anything on his left side. He was hospitalized and died at 6:45 pm Monday.

He was third Black umpire when he debuted in 1975 and became a regular member of the National League staff in 1978.. He officiated the 1989 World Series, four championship series, two division series, and one All Star game.
“He was so determined to be in the game and he got there,” Kevin Gregg said.
In 1999, Gregg was among 22 umpires who lost their jobs when their plan to use mass resignations as a way to force early contract negotiations backfired. He was given $400,000 in 2004 when he and 5 other umpires were given severance pay and benefits. “When he realized he couldn't go back to work, it took a lot out of him,” Kevin Gregg said, “To this day, I think it was sometimes painful for him to watch games.”

Kevin Gregg recalled his father's days as a high school catcher, when a coach told him that he was too big to play and wasn't ever going to be good enough.
“He had the mentality of, “Damn that, I'm still going to be involved,” Gregg said.
Gregg said his dad saw a commercial for umpiring school and decided that's how he would make it to the major leagues. “He was my friend, and I'll miss him,” umpire Jerry Crawford, in tears, said before working the Marlins-Giants game in San Francisco. “He was a very good umpire. He loved the game. He was a funny guy. He had a great time at it. He was a terrific partner. He loved his kids. I loved the guy.” Unfortunately, Gregg was known for one game by many fans and media who chose to overlook his bubbly personality. Game 5, 1997 National League Championship series between the Braves and the Marlins. Rookie Livan Hernandez had some electric stuff and struck out 15 batters. Greg Maddux had nine of his own. The combined strikeouts are still a record.

Eight players were called out and several more fell behind in the count as Gregg appeared to make the plate wider than its usual 17 inches. "We don't mind if they want to call four, five inches off and do it for both sides. That's fine," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "From what everybody was yelling at from the dugout and everywhere else, they were a lot further. "A lot of those pitches, they didn't have a chance at them," he said. But Gregg disputed all the disputing. "I am surprised I am getting these questions about my strike zone. My strike zone has been like this for 25 years. "Did you see anybody throwing helmets? Did you see me eject anybody?" he said. "It was the same for both sides. It was no problem at all." And in truth, there were no arguments at the plate with Gregg, who was in his 21st season as a major league umpire and working his fourth NLCS. There were a total of three walks. "Everybody knows me and they come up swinging the bat and they know I am consistent. They all know my strike zone," he said. Naturally, neither pitcher was complaining about a wide plate. "It seemed all right. It seemed consistent," Maddux said. Asked if Gregg was more generous than usual, he said, "I don't think so. A strike was a strike. A ball was a ball." "My pitches were being thrown for strikes today," Hernandez said. "I had good control of my breaking ball," he said. "For that reason, I started on the corners. It was a good strike zone." In 1996, shortly after his friend and fellow umpire John McSherry died, Gregg entered a weight-loss program at Duke University. By adjusting his diet and exercise program, he lost 100 pounds from his former frame of nearly 400. “We feel blessed that he's been able to do what he did in his career and his life,” Kevin Gregg said.

I remember him personally from bar tending at a Philly sports bar, Chickie and Pete's after he was no longer umpiring professionally with the league. He was the nicest person you could ever meet. The kind of person that one forgets how you actually became familiar with, because of the joy he made you feel. He was a Philly man through and through. His nickname was “Hub” because he was caught stealing hub caps as a youngster. When you spoke or associated with him, you felt as if you were stealing from him because when you left a different person just from talking to him. He was a true character who in Barkley like fashion, had fun with the team mascots and entertained both parents and kids alike. I hope he is remembered for what he brought to the game and not what the haters said he took from it.

He should be an inspiration to not only African Americans but to anyone who can remember the game when it was more about fun instead of just being about competition. Do you remember him dancing with the Philly Fanatic? Baseball lately has been about everything negative instead of how it should be played, how it should be watched, and how it should be covered. The way people live their lives, there always has to be an issue. The way he lived his life, weight wasn't an issue. Why was it an issue to us? Gregg is survived by his wife Ramona and three other children, Eric, Ashley and Jamie.
Rest in Peace Eric Gregg.