ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 2, 1996 TAG: 9604020062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CINCINNATI
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHN MCSHERRY had plans today to visit a doctor about an irregular heartbeat.
Umpire John McSherry, who planned to see doctors today about an irregular heartbeat, collapsed on the field two minutes into Cincinnati's opener Monday and died at a hospital about an hour later.
The devastated Reds and Montreal Expos postponed the game about an hour after McSherry collapsed. It will be replayed in its entirety today.
University Hospital said McSherry died of ``sudden cardiac death,'' a condition in which the heart beats out of control.
McSherry, 51, was listed at 328 pounds and had a history of medical problems. He had told the other umpires that he was going to be treated today for arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat.
``I wish he would have done it sooner,'' Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee said.
McSherry, the crew chief and home plate umpire, turned away after the seventh pitch and headed for the tunnel behind the plate that leads to the umpires' dressing room. He fell face-first when he reached the warning track.
The other umpires covered their faces and players gathered around while the crowd of roughly 53,000 fans went silent. Doctors in the crowd rushed onto the field to try to help revive McSherry, who never regained consciousness.
He was declared dead at 3:04 p.m. EST at University Hospital. A spokeswoman said McSherry's heart had stopped beating properly.
Reds manager Ray Knight put his arm around umpire Tom Hallion as they watched doctors try to revive McSherry.
``He said John was supposed to go get his arrhythmia [treated] earlier and he didn't want to do that,'' Knight said. ``He made the statement that, `I'm going to be here Opening Day with them and then go get that tomorrow.'''
McSherry was named a crew chief in July 1988, replacing Lee Weyer, who died of a heart attack two weeks earlier.
Last August, he was forced to leave a game between Atlanta and Chicago because of heat exhaustion. In 1993, he left a game in Cincinnati against Los Angeles after becoming ill in 87-degree heat.
McSherry was forced to leave Game 7 of the 1992 NL playoffs between Pittsburgh and Atlanta in the second inning because of dizziness. A year earlier, he collapsed because of dehydration during a game between St. Louis and Atlanta.
He was fine before the game Monday, as horse-drawn wagons circled the field and former Reds manager Sparky Anderson threw out a ceremonial first pitch to Knight, who was managing his first game for Cincinnati.
``He was joking around with me before the game,'' Taubensee said. ``In fact, he said, `Eddie, you can call the first two innings.' He seemed to be in good spirits.''
Mark Grudzielanek flied out to open the game and Mike Lansing struck out against Pete Schourek. After the second pitch to Rondell White, McSherry backed away from the plate, waved to second-base umpire Steve Rippley with his right hand, and started toward the dressing room.
``After the second pitch to Rondell White, he just said, `Hold on, time out for a second,''' Taubensee said. ``I turned around and said, `Are you all right, John?' He didn't say anything. I thought maybe he pulled something [a muscle] by the way he was walking. After he collapsed, I lost it.''
The other umpires were consoled by players as doctors worked on McSherry for 15 minutes before he was taken to the hospital.
``Once we rolled John over, he never regained consciousness,'' umpire Jerry Crawford said. ``I don't think he heard me talking to him.''
Knight, Expos manager Felipe Alou, Reds general manager Jim Bowden and owner Marge Schott met with the umpires after McSherry was taken away. They initially considered resuming the game with two umpires - Hallion left for the hospital.
The players met, decided they were too broken up to continue, then talked to the umpires.
``The team is rattled, really rattled,'' Knight said. ``Nobody wanted to play after seeing something like that happen.''
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. AP Umpire Tom Hallion (left) is comforted byby CNBCincinnati manager Ray Knight after plate umpire John McSherry
collapsed on the field Monday afternoon. color
2. headshot of McSherry color KEYWORDS: BASEBALL FATALITY