Canadian umpire set to work second Classic

Canadian umpire Trevor Grieve won’t forget the summer he spent working in the minor leagues surviving on three things: Pizza Hut, Chinese buffets and sandwiches purchased in bulk at the nearest grocery store.

The Toronto native had a $20 per diem and didn’t want to leave himself broke, so he and a partner would rotate through the three spots, always hoping they didn’t have to tackle the physical job at home plate on the same day they had indulged in a heavy Chinese buffet.

Grieve spent almost four seasons working around the minor leagues before retiring in 2004. But he does continue to umpire now and then and will be travelling to Tokyo on March 11 to work the second round of the World Baseball Classic.

“It was really tough living on the road. I didn’t enjoy several of the years that I was there,” Grieve said. “I was missing a lot of weddings, I was missing some funerals, some close family. And I think that was sort of the topper for me was life was passing me by and you’re on the road for anywhere from five to eight months of the year. You didn’t get time off.”

The 2017 WBC, which began March 6, will be Grieve’s second after also working the tournament in 2013. His performance during the previous edition took him all the way to the final at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

“It was pretty crazy,” the 39-year-old Grieve said. “It was a great time there and that ball park in San Francisco is unbelievable.”

Larry Young, a Major League Baseball umpire supervisor and co-ordinator of WBC umpires, said he developed a lot of faith in Grieve after seeing him work the first round of the 2013 tournament in Taichung, Taiwan. Young said Grieve stood out and had the abilities they were looking for.

“It’s very serious (umpiring) when it’s on the field but when the day is over and you have a little camaraderie, it’s nice to be with somebody that’s fun and that’s Trevor,” Young said. “I consider him not only as an employee but also consider him as a friend.”

Grieve left minor league baseball in 2004, returning to Toronto to become a police officer with the Toronto Police Service, where he’s worked for the past 12 years. Although the two professions are very different, Grieve is quick to point out that there’s some similarities, as well.

“You have to take charge on a field and as a police officer you sort of take charge at a scene, you have to know the rules, the laws,” Grieve said.