Occupation Umpire Name Rich Rieker | Role Baseball Umpire Employer National League, MLB | |
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Full Name Richard Gregory Rieker Born November 9, 1961 (age 62) ( 1961-11-09 ) St. Louis, Missouri Years active 1992-1999 (NL), 2000-2001 (MLB) Education University of Missouri–St. Louis | ||
Richard Gregory Rieker (born November 9, 1961) is the Director of Umpire Development for Major League Baseball and a former professional baseball umpire. He debuted as a National League umpire in 1992, was on the full-time NL umpiring staff from 1996—filling in after the death of John McSherry—to 1999 and worked throughout both major leagues in 2000 and 2001. Rieker wore uniform number 16 during his National League career, then switched to number 38 after the NL and AL umpiring staffs merged in 2000. Rieker umpired 1,001 regular season major league games in his 10-year career. He umpired in two division series (1999 and 2000), and the 1998 All-Star Game.
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Career
Rieker spent thirteen seasons as a minor league umpire. Rieker made major league appearances as early as 1992 and he joined the National League full-time in 1996. He was behind the plate when Mark McGwire hit his (then) record 69th and 70th home runs on September 27, 1998.
Rieker has worked in supervisory roles for Major League Baseball since his 2001 retirement as an active umpire. In 2011, he became the MLB Director of Umpire Development.
Personal life
Rieker has an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and two children.