For first time in 70 years, a Kansan will be umpiring at the World Series
First pitch of Game 2 of the 2020 World Series on Wednesday night will bring with it a bit of history.
For the first time since 1948, the man calling balls and strikes will be from Kansas. Todd Tichenor will be behind the plate when the Dodgers face the Rays.
The last Kansan to work as home plate umpire was George Barr in Game 5 of the 1948 World Series when Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians lost 11-5 to Warren Spahn and the Boston Braves in front of 86,288 fans. Working in relief for Cleveland that day: Satchel Paige.
Barr also worked as an umpire in the outfield in the 1949 World Series.
Tichenor is just the third Kansan to work the World Series, as Twitter user Brennan Mense noted:
Tichenor lives in Holcomb, Kansas, and attended Garden City High School and Garden City Community College, per KSCB radio. He began his vocation in 1999 and worked his way through the minor leagues before being promoted to the major-league umpiring roster in 2012.
With the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the start of the 2020 season, Tichenor got back to work in July at Kauffman Stadium, calling a Royals intrasquad game.
“This is what I was born to do,” Tichenor told Yahoo Sports at the time. “I love umpiring. This is what I did and what I grew up as. I grew up in a small town in western Kansas and this is how I made movie money on the weekends. Then it just grew into this, grew into a passion, and now it’s pretty cool I’m in the big leagues.”
Governor Laura Kelly wished Tichenor well:
