Topic: Tim McClelland

Timothy Reid McClelland (born December 12, 1951 in Jackson, Michigan) is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the American League from 1983 to 1999 and throughout both leagues since 2000. He has called many important games, from post-season games to the George Brett "Pine Tar" game in 1983. More recently, he was the plate umpire for the Sammy Sosa corked bat game on June 3, 2003 when the Chicago Cubs hosted the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Wrigley Field. He has worn uniform number 36 since his promotion to the AL, and kept the number when Major League Baseball merged the American and National League umpiring staffs in 2000.

He is one of the tallest major league umpires at 6-foot-6. He was known in the past for working in a kneeling position behind the plate (he has switched, since at least 2006, to a "box position", a form of squat) and for his deliberate strike calls. He has consistently been rated among the top umpires in the majors by players, managers and executives. He is noted for having a small strike zone, but is praised even by pitchers for its consistency. Major League pitcher Zach Greinke said of McClelland's alleged tight strike zone, "For some reason, he's the one umpire that scares me. I have nightmares about him."

McClelland has umpired in numerous noteworthy baseball games. He has been a World Series umpire four times (1993, 2000, 2002 and 2006), and worked in three All-Star games (1986, 1998 and 2003), calling balls and strikes on the last occasion. He has also called five Division Series (1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006), serving as crew chief in 1997, 2004, and 2006 and in eight League Championship Series (1988, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008 ), serving as crew chief in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008. He was the home plate umpire for the single-game playoff to decide the NL's 2007 wild card team, in which the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Diego Padres 9-8 in 13 innings. He also worked the 2008 one-game playoff between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox, which the White Sox won by a Jim Thome home run in the 7th inning 1-0. He was also the third base umpire for Nolan Ryan's sixth career no-hitter on June 11, 1990.