Voting Results: Libka (35.0%), Ben May (10.6%), Jeremy Riggs (9.4%).
Not many categories proved to be landslides, but John Libka ran away with the Fill-In Umpire of the Year vote. In addition to a consistently superior strike zone—Libka's plate scores in 2021 once again ranked at the top of the league—Libka also drew praise for situation handling throughout the season during ejections and other difficult situations.
Libka's textbook mechanics and positioning in Chicago earlier this season was featured as the April 2021 Call of the Month.
MLB seems to agree, having assigned Libka a career-high 134 major league games during the 2021 season for a total of 371 MLB contests since debuting during the 2017 season. The only call-ups to officiate more big league games in 2021 were Nick Mahrley and Ryan Additon, who took to the field 138 and 137 times, respectively.
UEFL Awards History, John Libka
None
The next postseason award to be announced will be Crew Chief of the Year.
