David Arrieta

David Arrieta Quintero

• Height 5' 10", Weight 210 lb.

• Born May 24, 1979 in Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela

Biographical Information

David Arrieta is one of a large number of umpires who worked their first major league games during the abbreviated 2020 season, as opportunities were opened up when a number of veteran umpires decided to sit out the season, and other openings were created by a large number of make-up doubleheaders being scheduled. Arrieta umpired his first game on August 21st; his first two assignments were one-offs, one in St. Petersburg, FL that first day and another in San Diego, CA on August 27th, but starting on September 10th he was added to a regular crew and worked regularly the rest of that month on the East Coast for a total of 19 games.

He was born in Venezuela, his hiring being part of a concerted effort by Major League Baseball to bring more minority umpires into the professional ranks. He was the fifth native of the country to umpire a major league game; two others, Jose Navas and Edwin Moscoso, had also umpired their first game earlier that season. He served a long minor league apprenticeship, having worked in the Venezuelan Summer League, New York-Penn League, Florida State League, Southern League and Pacific Coast League starting in 2017 prior to his promotion. He also worked in the Venezuelan League during the off-season. He graduated from the Jim Evans umpire school, which was the main source of professional umpires before MLB set up its own umpiring academy, and worked the 2016 Southern League All-Star Game.

Related Sites

• David Arrieta on Retrosheet.org