For Mayfield’s Tripp Gibson, baseball has always played a significant role in his life. As a kid, Gibson dreamed of stepping across the chalked white lines and playing professional baseball at the highest level under the lights and cheering fans.
Although he decided to stop playing the game he loved, life’s journey led him down a path that would allow him to step across the chalked white lines under the lights and cheering fans as a Major League Baseball umpire. Gibson’s path led him straight into MLB’s history books during the 2022 World Series as the Houston Astros completed only the second no-hitter in World Series history, which dates back to 1903.
“It was unbelievable. You couldn’t have scripted that,” Gibson said. “It wasn’t until the seventh inning that I thought about it. I knew there were no hits in the third, but I also knew that Bryce Harper had walked in the first, so the perfect game was gone. So in my mind, I disregarded it for a while, and I didn’t forget. I just pushed it aside because I had more stuff to focus on because, with the no-hitter, I had zero control as long as I did my job.”
Gibson admitted that he reminded himself that he had seen no-hitters disappear before in late innings. He was behind home plate for Sean Manaea’s no-hitter for the Oakland Athletics but never dreamed of experiencing a no-hitter on the World Series level.
“In the seventh inning and into the ninth, I was doubling my focus to go, alright Tripp, don’t screw this up. When that final out happened, it was like, what just happened? I just worked the plate in the World Series, and it wasn’t a tight ballgame,” He said. “I went into the locker room, and the guys were like, are you kidding me? Because it’s a huge honor for an umpire to be a part of a no-hitter. I’ve said this a few times already, but I didn’t throw it, I didn’t hit it, which neither did the Phillies, but I didn’t do any of that stuff. I was just a part of history, and I was fortunate enough and blessed enough to be a part of that on the field.”
Gibson’s humble beginnings started on the diamond with his dad Sonny. Like many young men in the local area, he played for the Paducah Storm and eventually began playing for the Graves County Eagles and American Legion out of Mayfield. Although he received a few small offers from JUCO and NAIA college baseball programs, his baseball career took a turn as he began his journey into umpiring.
“I went down to Mayfield Graves County Parks and Recreational parks, and a man named Pat Powers was running baseball, and I started umpiring there,” Gibson said. “It was one of those things when I got out there, and I loved it immediately. I did. I quickly learned I loved umpiring more than I ever did playing.”
His love and passion for umpiring continued to grow as he worked through the ranks, which started with officiating high school baseball. Eventually, he made it into college baseball as an official, and through a fraternity brother, Gibson made contact with Owensboro’s Larry Vanover, an MLB umpire. It was Vanover that told Gibson about Major League umpire school.
“When I graduated college in the fall of 2005, I went to umpire school at Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in Daytona Beach in January of 2006,” He said. “That began my journey. And all that leading up to it, I didn’t know that I wanted to be a Major League umpire until my sophomore and junior years of college. I studied art and education and wanted to be a teacher and coach high school baseball. Of course, I wanted to do that, but I quickly realized and learned that umpiring was much more enjoyable than any other job.”
His Major League debut as an umpire came on July 8, 2013, at Chase Field in Phoenix with a matchup between the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Although that was his debut, the moment when he felt he could do the job came during his third game behind home plate in a 14-inning marathon between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
“My third game, I worked behind the plate. Again, it was the Dodgers visiting the Diamondbacks, but it went over five hours and 14 innings,” Gibson said. “It was my first game behind the plate in the Major Leagues, and it’s the longest. I think to this day, it is still the longest home plate debut in Major League Baseball. I was like, you know what, 14 innings, I can do this. I didn’t get hired full-time until 2015 before the season, but that’s when I realized that I think I got this.”
Gibson has served as a Major League umpire in three Wild Card series, three division series, and one league championship series, which came in 2021 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves and was a part of the World Series replay in 2017. In addition, he was a part of the crew that worked the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. After the NLDS, Gibson returned home unaware of the journey his career would take him on in October.
After returning home from the NLDS, Gibson left for a hunting trip in Idaho around when the calls would be made for the World Series. Unfortunately, during his drive to Idaho, he lost service, but once it returned, he had a voicemail from his boss waiting on him. Gibson admitted that he was nervous about returning the call.
“I decided to pull over and call my wife and tell her, and when I told her, I was trying to hold the emotion because I wanted to talk to her for a second,” He said. “After talking to her for a bit, I asked if she would like to go to the World Series with me, and she froze for a second and then started bawling. She broke down because she’s been a part of this journey since Double-A, and she holds down the fort when I’m gone. She’s the one that keeps the kids going, takes care of baseball for the kids, and the dog and all the other pets and life.”
Gibson credited his wife, Danna, for keeping everything together while he was on the road and working as a Major League umpire.
As an overall experience, Gibson said it was a great experience being a part of the umpiring crew in the World Series. From his father being in the stands, to making an appearance in the Steal a Base, Steal a Taco commercial as Kyle Schwarber stole second base, Gibson is still blown away that he had the opportunity to be a part of it all.
“It was amazing,” He said. “I’m still blown away and still blown away that they even called me in the first place to do it.”
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