Greg Gibson, the Home Plate Umpire, Retires from Baseball

Major League umpire and crew chief Greg Gibson has retired 25 years after his NL debut; baseball's infamous home plate umpire officiated his last MLB game in May 2022. Said Gibson, "It's my time to get out of the way."

The umpiring veteran made those comments to his home town Daily Independent, further explaining his decision to retire: "I was getting to the point where it wasn’t fun."

Before Gibson's National League debut in 1997, the Ohio-born and Kentucky-residing umpire journeyed through the minor league system's Appalachian, Florida Instructional, South Atlantic, Florida State, Eastern, and International Leagues.

He officiated three Wild Card Games (2012, 13, 18), 10 Division Series (2001, 03, 04, 06, 07, 09, 10, 11, 15, 21), five League Championship Series (2005, 12, 13, 14, 18), and one World Series (2011) to go along with more than 2700 regular season games, and picked up 92 career ejections along the way.

An injury sidelined Gibson for the COVID-shortened 2020 season and according to the Daily Independent, long COVID issues contributed to Gibson's abbreviated 2022 schedule that ended in May.

Related Post: Injury Scout - Greg Gibson Out for 2020 Season (6/11/20).

Gibson promoted to crew chief prior to the 2022 season, and retires from baseball into an insurance business he became involved with several years ago; in 2019, Gibson graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree from the school's the Risk Management and Insurance program.

Related Post: Greg Gibson Fulfills Goal, Graduates from College (5/12/19).

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Alternate Link: Greg Gibson retires after 24-year career on NL/MLB staff (CCS)