MLB Umpire Ed Hickox Retires From 28-Year Career

[Lindsay]

28-year MLB umpire Ed Hickox has retired from on-field officiating after 28 years of baseball in the American and unified major leagues, capping a career interrupted by a 5 years away from the game due to labor dispute and litigation related to injuries sustained on the field.

Hickox's big league career began with a 1990 AL debut and he was one of the 22 AL and NL umpires whose resignations were accepted during an ill-fated bargaining strategy when MLB sought to consolidate umpiring staffs. Hickox returned to the minor leagues as a brand-new Wendelstedt Umpire School recruit in 2002, working his way up the chain until reaching the now-unified MLB staff in 2005.

Litigation of a different variety struck Hickox after returning to the big league staff when he suffered concussion and ear injuries in 2005 and again in 2009, filing a lawsuit again Wilson Sporting Goods, whom Hickox alleged had given him a defective helmet he wore when he suffered the injuries.

A District of Columbia Superior Court jury ordered Wilson pay Hickox $775,000 for damages (this award was ultimately appealed and affirmed).

In addition to full-time major league umpiring, Hickox worked part-time as a Daytona Beach Shores detective.

Hickox retires after 28 years and 2,707 major league games, alongside 5 Division Series and 36 ejections.

Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Ed Hickox retires from MLB service after bifuracted big league career

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[SeeingEyeDog]

Well, @MadMax...I was unaware of Hickox's litigation against Wilson. Clearly, this confirms that which you have been on here preaching to all us for many years now...

~Dawg

[MadMax]

15 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

litigation against Wilson

"Exclusive" is very often synonymous with "Monopoly", and in very, very few instances is a monopoly beneficial to anyone... other than the monopolistic entity. 

Over-pricing? Check.
Price fixing? Check. 
Price gouging? Check. 
Stagnated development? Check. 
No motive for improvement? Check. 
Minimal attention to Quality, Integrity, or Failure issues (which befall any/all companies)? Check. 

And here's the big one... A cadre of shills stumping or defending your deficiencies because they themselves are getting a dividend / benefit / bonus? CHECK CHECK CHECK. 

I'll repeat my story again... In 2015, I sat in a room of 80+ existing and prospective umpires, and a MLBU staffer/expert held aloft an All-Star FM4000, claimed it was "titanium", and that "titanium was dangerous". Then he briefly covered some things regarding traditional masks, and then held aloft a Wilson Shock FX HSM, and then stated, "This is what you need." 

The NFL was never that audacious in their supply of football helmets to their players, even during the time when Riddell was the "Exclusive" Supplier to the League. Professionals were given a choice. 

That Hickox was injured was not unique; injuries happen, at any and all times, regardless of the most redoubtable and robust of safety equipment. That Hickox had no other recourse but to sue Wilson... ahh, that is significant, because that intones Wilson's deficient practices and negligence, how they relate to the League (MLBU), and how the at-that-time protocols were woefully inadequate (insurance, healthcare claims, equipment supply and stipend, etc.). 

Wilson is not "an umpire's company", folks. They're a cold, uncaring corporation who hold profit margins higher than personnel. 

[Kevin_K]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

They're a cold, uncaring corporation who hold profit margins higher than personnel. 

This is not unique to Wilson. By far, it is the norm in the American business model.

[BigBlue4u]

Apparently, Hickock was not well regarded as an umpire.  28 years of service and yet never worked anything higher than a division series.