Cal League Honors Umpire of the Year
September 4, 2015 - California League (CalL1) News Release
Oxnard, CA - The California League, the only league in Minor League Baseball to honor an umpire, announced its award for Umpire of the Year. The "Doug Harvey Award", named after the 2010 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and nearby resident of Visalia, was instituted as an annual award in 2010 and given to the Cal League Umpire of the Year.
In a pregame ceremony at Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield, Reid Gibbs was presented the sixth Doug Harvey Award. Gibbs is in his fourth season as a Minor League umpire. The 28-year old umpire from Glendale, AZ will be the crew chief during the Cal League Championship Series later in this month.
"Congratulations to Reid Gibbs for being the Sixth recipient of the Doug Harvey Award." Blaney stated. "Reid is an exceptional young man and we have been honored to have him in the league for the past two seasons. The Cal League sincerely thanks Doug Harvey for lending his name once again to this prestigious award". Doug Harvey was on hand to present the award.
Gibbs was the top vote getter as voted on by the Managers of the Cal League who know and work with the umpires more than anyone else in the League.
Doug Harvey was a Major League umpire for 30 years and umpired in 5 World Series, 6 All-Star games, and 9 National League Championship Series. He was nicknamed "God" by the players because of his strict focus on the rules of the game. Harvey was ranked as the second greatest umpire in history, according to the Society for American Baseball Research, behind only Bill Klem. In 2007, Referee magazine selected him as one of the 52 most influential figures in the history of sports officiating. He began his professional umpiring career in the Cal League in 1958 and umpired in the League for the 1959 and 1960 seasons before moving up to Triple-A.
California League Stories from September 4, 2015
- Cal League Honors Umpire of the Year - CalL1
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