Umpire looks back: Dixon native Young reminisces on major MLB career

It was October 20, 1996.  Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The New York Yankees hosting the Atlanta Braves. Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Yankees, John Smoltz pitching for Atlanta.

And there was Larry Young, a Dixon native who lived in Oregon for most of his childhood, serving as the left field umpire, doing his first World Series. Living his dream.

While many kids dream of playing in places like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, Young fell in love with umpiring at a young age.

From the time he was 13 years old doing Little League games, Young’s interest in umpiring grew. He started doing church-league softball games, and by the time he was in college at Northern Illinois University, he worked pretty much every night as an umpire in baseball or softball, or as a basketball referee.

“I had it in the back of my mind for a long time that I wanted to do it for a living,” said Young, 56, who graduated from NIU with an education degree in 1976. “I would go anywhere and work anything. I was kind of doing it as a job when I was in high school and college.”

On that October night in the Bronx, Young’s ultimate goal was fulfilled.

“My first World Series was the most memorable game,” Young said. “It felt like I had hit what I set out to accomplish years ago.”

From an umpire’s standpoint, the series went great, going without controversy for the most part, as the Yankees lost the first two games at home before winning four straight for their 23rd world championship.

“It wasn’t just another game. It was the epitome of baseball,” said Young, who now works with Major League Baseball as a supervisor of umpires. “You’re hoping your name wouldn’t remembered for a bad call.”

Young experienced about everything a big-league umpire could before retiring in 2007. He worked another World Series in 2003, Marlins vs. Yankees. He also worked the American League Championship Series in 1992, 1998, and 2002, as well as the All-Star games in 1991 in Toronto and 2003 at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field.

Young was on the field for Nolan Ryan’s 5,000th strikeout, as well as Rod Carew, Rafael Palmeiro, and Dave Winfield’s 3,000th hits.

“I was lucky to see a lot of those types of games,” Young said.

GETTING STARTED

After college graduation, Young went through a five-week course at umpire school, and was one of the few to earn a job in the minor leagues, starting in the Class A Midwest League.

Young kept moving up the minor league ladder, and in the summer of 1983, while he was in Omaha with the Class AAA American Association, he got the call to work his first Major League game at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago, where the White Sox were hosting the Twins.

“I can remember just about every play,” Young said.

After splitting time between Triple-A and the majors in 1983 and 1984, Young was up for good in 1985. He served in the big leagues until an injury forced him to retire in 2007, when a line drive off the bat of Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young hit him in the knee during a game at Wrigley Field.

His knees were already in bad shape from his long career as an umpire, and Young only worked a couple of more days, umpiring his last game on July 22, 2007 at Wrigley Field. He took a month off before deciding to take his current position.

“They made it known that there was a position for me as a supervisor,” Young said. “I took a month off and told them I was ready to start that second career. Really have enjoyed that more than I thought I would. I enjoy this side of umpiring.”

ARGUMENTS

Young says that most times when there’s an argument over a call, players and managers know it’s just business, and that it’s forgotten about the next day.

One exception was Earl Weaver, who managed the Orioles for 18 years until 1986.

“Earl Weaver was the absolute worst. He despised anyone who ever put on a blue shirt,” Young said. “Umpires don’t agree on much, but I think we can all agree on Earl Weaver.”

How did the two current Chicago managers treat him?

“Ozzie [Guillen]’s good. We have a very good relationship,” Young said. “We always got along really well.”

Young is able to speak Spanish, and once joked with Guillen that he couldn’t understand him in either English or Spanish.

However, Young has had his share of run-ins with Cubs manager Lou Piniella,

“We had a screaming match one time,” Young said. “We ended up yelling at each other going through the tunnel at Wrigley Field.”

When it came to players who would give him a hard time, the first one that came to Young’s mind is Rickey Henderson.

“He was a pain in the neck,” Young said. “Any time he didn’t swing at a ball, he called it a ball. He was not pleasant to deal with.”