Nick Bremigan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1945-04-04)April 4, 1945 |
| Died | March 28, 1989(1989-03-28) (aged 43) |
| Occupation | MLBumpire |
| Years active | 1974–1989 |
Nicholas Gregory Bremigan (April 4, 1945 – March 28, 1989) was an Americanumpire inMajor League Baseball who worked in theAmerican League from 1974 until his death.
Born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, Bremigan grew up inRochester, New York, and graduated fromIrondequoit High School.[1] In 1965,[2] he received a bachelor's degree in education from theUniversity of Buffalo, and became a teacher at Monroe High School in Rochester.[1] He later gave up teaching and undertook a career in umpiring,[1] with stints in theFlorida State League (1969–1970),Eastern League (1971), andInternational League (1972–1973).[citation needed]
Bremigan began umpiring in the American League (AL) in 1974, and umpired 2122 regular season AL games during his career. He also officiated in the1980 World Series, and in theAmerican League Championship Series in1977,1981,1983, and1986. He also worked theAll-Star games of1979 and1985.
Bremigan was one of the umpires during the famousPine Tar Incident withGeorge Brett in 1983.[3][4] In 1986, Bremigan became the first umpire to eject a manager from an American League Championship Series game, when he ejectedGene Mauch of theCalifornia Angels from Game 3 against theBoston Red Sox.[1][5]
Bremigan died of a heart attack at age 43 inGarland, Texas. He had umpired an exhibition game the day before his death.[6]
AL umpires wore Bremigan's number 2 on their sleeves in his memory throughout the 1989 season. No AL umpire wore the number again through 1999. UmpireJerry Crawford wore number 2 in theNational League, and kept it when the umpires from both leagues merged into one staff in 2000.
