Jon Byrne

Jon Stephen Byrne

• Height 5' 11", Weight 191 lb.

• Born June 23, 1983 in Perth, Western Australia Australia

Biographical Information

Jon Byrne was the first major league umpire born in Australia.

He began his professional career in the United States in the Gulf Coast League in 2005, but before that had begun umpiring in the amateur ranks in his native country in 1998. In 2001, he attended an umpiring school in Adelaide, South Australia and the following year began umpiring national youth tournaments. Even after his U.S. career began, he continued to work in Australia in the off-season, working the Claxton Shield tournament and in the Australian Baseball League. He worked in the Midwest League and the Northwest League (2006), the California League (2007), the Eastern League (2008-2010) and the International League (2011-2015).

Byrne made his major league umpiring debut as a replacement umpire on May 16, 2014 in a game between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals. He worked 9 major league games that season, with his primary assignment being in AAA. He worked spring training games in 2015, but no major league contests and was one of four umpires cut from the MiLB staff following the season.

Further Reading

• Elizabeth Cage: "Byrne becomes first Aussie ump in MLB: Perth arbiter joins elite group in big leagues", theabl.au, May 16, 2014. [1]

Related Sites

• Jon Byrne on Retrosheet.org