Commissioner's Statement regarding Marty Springstead

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig issued the following statement today regarding the passing of longtime American League Umpire and Major League Baseball Umpire Supervisor Marty Springstead, who was 74:

            “I am deeply saddened by the loss of Marty Springstead, an outstanding baseball man and an esteemed umpire.  Marty spent 20 years on the field as an American League Umpire before serving as the A.L.’s Executive Director of Umpires and an Umpire Supervisor for Major League Baseball.  For a quarter-century, Marty mentored a new generation of our umpires, not only in the Major Leagues but around the world.

            “Marty was an avid teacher, a great storyteller and a friend to countless people around our game.  Like so many of my colleagues, I always appreciated his wonderful sense of humor and the pride he had for his profession.  On behalf of Major League Baseball and Marty’s friends and admirers throughout the game, I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Linda; his son, Bradley, and Bradley’s mother Marlene; and his stepson, Robert.”

            Springstead was an American League Umpire from 1966-1985.  After leaving the field, the 11-year crew chief was appointed Executive Director of Umpires for the American League, serving from 1986-2000, and then acting as an Umpire Supervisor for Major League Baseball from 2000-2010.  The Nyack, New York native worked three All-Star Games (1969, 1975, 1982), five American League Championship Series (1970, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1984) and three World Series (1973, 1978, 1983).  As a Minor League umpire, Springstead worked U.S. Army baseball games.  Throughout his career, he lectured around the world, teaching umpiring to members of the United States Air Force in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and participating in clinics in Canada and for the umpires of Japan’s Pacific League.