2013 UEFL Awards: Crew Chief of the Year: John Hirschbeck

2013 UEFL Awards: Crew Chief of the Year: John Hirschbeck (17)
Voting Results (min. 10%): Hirschbeck (20%), Joe West (17%), Jim Joyce (11%).

John Hirschbeck is the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League's 2013 crew chief of the year. In his 30th MLB season, Hirschbeck finished 2013 with two ejections. After missing the 2012 season and being cleared of cancer, Hirschbeck worked his first Spring Training game in late February, setting plans for the 2013 in motion. After a difficult Ejection 027 (5/5), Hirschbeck bounced back from injury in the balk-filled Ejection 077 (6/13), with UEFL'ers praising the crew's dedication to enforcing the balk rule.

After serving as crew chief during his third All-Star Game, Hirschbeck earned high praise during the postseason and especially during the 2013 World Series, in which Hirschbeck's designation of crew chief over fellow veteran Dana DeMuth came into question: "I'm glad all the umpires got together and got the call right [Game 1 safe call at second base]. That's what you like to see. I love the sound byte from Hirschbeck, taking charge of the situation ["our job is to get it right"]. That's why he's the crew chief."

John Hirschbeck now has 17 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (16 Previous + 1 Award = 17).
The next postseason award, Honorable Umpire(s) of the Year, will be released later tomorrow.