Montco baseball dad is World Series umpire

Father of Hatboro-Horsham star with MLB since 2010

HORSHAM >> A local man could play a key role in the 2022 World Series — but don’t confuse “local man” with “Phillies fan.”

“He couldn’t care less who he’s umpiring. It’s a job to him, and he’s completely neutral in terms of teams. He never talks about any team more than any other, so there’s no bias whatsoever,” said Hatboro-Horsham baseball coach Pete Moore.

“My best friend is one of the umpires, so it’s pretty cool to see him reach this level,” he said.

He, in this case, is Alan Porter, a ten-year veteran major league umpire who’s one of seven assigned by Major League Baseball to work the 2022 World Series. He’s also the father of Trey Porter, the leadoff hitter, pitcher and centerfielder for the Hatboro-Horsham Hatters who was named The Reporter’s 2022 Baseball Player of the Year in June.

Moore said Friday that he and Alan Porter have known each other since the mid-1990s. “We grew up playing baseball to

gether, and he was a heck of a baseball player. He started in centerfield at Hatboro-Horsham, and he was a first-team all-league player for a couple years in a row.”

After playing college baseball, Porter decided to don the black mask and pads and took to umpiring locally, then attended an official MLB umpiring school.

“They rank all of the umpires, and he ranked very high, near the top of his class, and they offered him a job in minor league baseball based on those rankings,” he said.

“It’s a lot like being a baseball player — you have to work your way up the system. There’s not a lot of fame and glory when you start out, the pay’s not great, and the travel is even worse than a player because it’s not like you have a home field. You’re always on the road — but he made it work.”

By 2010, Porter made his major league debut, calling a total of 35 major league games at age 32. When new umpires are called up to the big leagues, Moore said, “you’re called a ‘rover’ — you bounce between the minor leagues and major leagues, and you kind of fill in when other guys are on vacation or injured.” Porter became a full-time major league umpire in 2013, called a no-hitter in 2014, worked right field for the 2015 All Star Game, was behind home plate for the first game of the 2019 World Series, and could be back there again soon.

“The rotation starts in right field, so tonight he’ll be the right field umpire” for Game 1, Moore said Friday.

“He’ll go from right field to left field for game two, and then for game three he’ll be at third base, game four at second base, game five at first base, and then they give you a night off before you work home plate, so he’s off for game six and then game seven, at home plate,” he said.

“I think he’s honored to have the opportunity to work the World Series, for sure, and in my opinion to be lined up to be the Game Seven umpire for the World Series — there’s not much that’s bigger than that.”

And before you ask, being from our area does not mean he’s leaning one way during games.

“To him, it’s a job. And I think that’s one of the things that makes him so successful, is that he’s able to kind of have a low heart rate. No matter where he is, no matter what the moment is, it seems like it’s never too big for him,” Moore said.

Worth keeping in mind while you watch, per the coach: That strike zone box you see superimposed on the screen while watching from home, is not necessarily what umpires are judged by. Moore said umpires are graded on every game, and get a two-inch buffer zone around the official MLB strike zone, and Porter’s ball and strike percentages are “always off the charts. He does a tremendous job, as do a lot of major league umpires, and he’s always at or close to the top.”

He’ll be busy this week, but during the regular season Porter has been known to stop by to watch Trey and the Hatters at Hatboro-Horsham home games, and “he’s just another dad when Trey is there.”

“He just knows his job, and I guess he’s just so welltrained, and done so many games, that once the game starts — it’s like you hear players say ‘It’s just a game again,’ and it’s that way for him too. It’s just pretty cool to see him out there.”

And while he’ll be keeping a close eye on Porter, Moore said he hopes his friend has at least one day off: “I’ve got the Phillies in six. I think they split in Houston, I think they take two out of three at home, and win in Houston again, and then they come home champions.”