Umpire Eric Gregg Dead

[LoungeMachine]

Monday, June 05, 2006

Former major league umpire Eric Gregg dies

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Former major league umpire Eric Gregg died Monday after suffering a stroke at his home on Sunday. He was 55 years old.

A spokesman at Lankenau Hospital said Gregg passed away Monday evening.

Gregg was a big league umpire for 23 years until losing his job as part of a mass resignation ploy by former umpires union chief Richie Phillips, who tried to jump-start labor negotiations in 1999.

The tactic failed and Gregg was one of 22 umpires whose resignations were accepted by Major League Baseball. A different union was formed and Gregg was unable to regain his job.

Gregg, known for his weight problems, umpired the 1989 World Series that was interrupted by the San Francisco earthquake. He also worked one All-Star Game and four championship series, including the 1997 NLCS when Gregg was criticized for an expanded strike zone that helped Florida's Livan Hernandez strike out 15 Atlanta Braves.

[LoungeMachine]

Eric Gregg

[monkeythe]

This doesn't do much for the repuatation of that Duke Weight Loss center he went to a few years back

[knuckleboner]

i remember some blooper somewhere where a 3rd baseman left a cheeseburger on 3rd base as they switched sides. gregg picked it up and jokingly took a bite.

funny stuff. of course, it's highly likely that jovial weight problem contributed to his stroke. so maybe it should've been a wakeup call...