“I’m very, very happy for him. It’s overdue. I’m not going to comment on why he didn’t get elected the first time. But I forgave him. Maybe the rest of the world has.”
Umpire john Hirschbeck reacting to the election of Roberto Alomar to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. Alomar spit in the face of Hirschbeck during an infamous 1996 incident.
Hirschbeck is really a gentleman. He’s featured in the excellent book “As They See ‘Em”
I daresay, I have much more respect for umps after getting to know Hirschbeck a bit more through the pages of that book.