Dan Lovallo

Terry Tata was 13-years-old, while his friends played sandlot baseball. Instead of playing, he umpired those same games in his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut. Serving as an arbiter placed him on a path to realize his dream of becoming a major league baseball umpire. A few years back, I interviewed Tata for another podcast I hosted. I decided to dig into the archives and post the interview, because what he says today, resonates as much as when he discussed his career a few seasons ago. Tata umpired MLB games from 1973 to 1999. During that time, he worked four World Series, seven League Championship Series and three All-Star games. In this interview, he shares some of the moments of his illustrious career, including the first MLB game he umpired and what Paul O'Niell said to him, after striking out to end a World Series game at Yankee Stadium. As for changes in the game, including the review of umpires' calls with replay, Tata has some thoughts about that too.