As first reported by the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League last month, John Hirschbeck was placed on MLB's umpiring disabled list this offseason after missing the entire 2008 season due to back surgery and the final two months of the 2009 season due to cancer treatment and surgery. Unfortunately, the cancer appears to have returned and Hirschbeck is once again fighting the illness.
"John recently went through chemotherapy so this opening means a lot to me and him," said Mark Hirschbeck during the Hirschbeck's Sports Bar & Grille opening ceremony: "I wish he was here right now to be a part of this." Indications suggest a John Hirschbeck retirement following the 2012 season if the illness has not been controlled by season's end while Hirschbeck may vow to return in 2013 if treatment is successful, though the decision has not yet been finalized.
The bar features three 80-inch, high definition televisions and numerous signed baseball jerseys and other memorabilia, including the New York Yankees' home plate from 1984: "We want it to be more like a museum," said Mark, while chef Jim Barrett (no relation to MLB Umpire Ted Barrett) described the menu as "upscale bar food."
Hirschbeck's Sports Bar & Grille is located at 882 Bridgeport Ave. in Shelton, CT, at the Stop & Shop plaza.
And as a final 'Hirschbeck' touch, bartenders not wearing the white uniform polo with the bar's logo are outfitted not with black or blue umpire shirts, but with black-and-white referee jerseys.
It is unknown whether Family Guy character Peter Griffin's idea of playing "a retired baseball umpire who opens a bar at the center of the earth" might be responsible for the Hirschbeck's Sports Bar & Grille concept.
News: Former MLB Umpires Open Sports Bar in Shelton
