Greg Gibson

Gregory Allan Gibson

• Height 5' 10", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of Kentucky, Shawnee State University

• Born October 2, 1968 in Ironton, OH USA

Biographical Information

Greg Gibson worked as a major league umpire for 23 seasons. He started umpiring in the 1991 Appalachian League, then moved up to the South Atlantic League (1992), Florida State League (1993), Eastern League (1994-1995) and International League (1996-1999). He umpired his first National League game in 1997 and following the mass resignation of MLB umpires as part of a failed negotiating ploy initiated by Richie Phillips late in the 1999 season, Gibson made it to the MLB staff permanently. He was the home plate umpire for Randy Johnson's 2004 perfect game. He worked the 2008 All-Star Game and the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics.

On April 21, 2012, Gibson unwittingly became the star of a very popular video when he took a 96 mph fastball from the Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg straight in the groin when catcher Wilson Ramos missed the ball entirely. He was able to resume his work after taking a few minutes to compose himself. Continuing in that vein, he was then spiked in the face by Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on August 15th. He was leaning towards the plate while kneeling, having removed his mask, when Hunter came in to score on a head-first slide on a close play; Hunter's trailing leg swiped across Gibson's brow, knocking him over and giving him a deep gash above the left eye. He had to leave the game, but was fine after receiving a few stitches.

On March 31, 2014, Gibson became the first umpire to see one of his calls overturned by a manager's challenge under the expanded video review rule. Manager Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves asked for a review of his safe call at first base on runner Ryan Braun and was successful in getting the call overturned.

He has worked numerous postseason series, including the 2011 World Series. He was promoted to crew chief before the 2022 season but retired after that year, one of ten veteran umpires to do so at the time.

Source: MLB.com

Related Sites

• Greg Gibson on Retrosheet.org