D.J. Reyburn

Daniel James Reyburn

• Height 5' 9", Weight 175 lb.
• School Hope College

• Born October 13, 1976 in Grand Rapids, MI USA

Biographical Information

D.J. Reyburn has been an umpire in the Midwest League (2002), Florida State League (2003), Eastern League (2004-2005) and Pacific Coast League (2006-2009). He was a MLB call-up umpire starting in 2008.

Reyburn was umpiring in the Dominican League in 2009-2010 when he became the center of media attention on January 16, 2009. After his colleague Jason Bradley ejected Licey Tigers catcher Ronny Paulino for arguing balls and strikes, he was attacked by Licey manager José Offerman. Offerman had to be removed by the police and was banned for life from the Dominican League for the assault. He was an umpire for the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He was promoted to the status of full-time major league umpire before the 2014 season, after having worked 440 games as a fill-in umpire.

On September 11, 2014, he was the home plate umpire when a series of incidents occurred during a game between the Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. In the 5th inning, Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers hit Miami's best player, Giancarlo Stanton, with a fastball in the face, breaking some bones and teeth and ending his season. Reyburn called the pitch a strike, as Stanton had been swinging when he was hit, so the at-bat continued even after the badly-injured player had to be removed from the game on a stretcher, bleeding profusely. Pinch-hitter Reed Johnson, called in to complete the at-bat, then struck out on a very similar pitch, that struck him on the hand. The two benches emptied and Marlins manager Mike Redmond and 3B Casey McGehee were both ejected for arguing Reyburn's decision to call both pitches strikes. But things didn't end there. Both benches were warned about any more foul play, and when Miami pitcher Anthony DeSclafani hit the Brewers' Carlos Gomez with a pitch in the 6th, he too was given the thumb, as was Marlins bench coach Rob Leary, who had taken over for Redmond, for ignoring the warning issued the previous inning.

Reyburn worked Pool A games for the 2017 World Baseball Classic in Seoul, South Korea.

Related Sites

• D.J. Reyburn at Retrosheet.org