Better Know An Umpire: Lance Barrett

Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)

Name: Lance Barrett

Uniform number: 94

Age: 27

Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 225 pounds

First year as MLB umpire: 2010

Total MLB games worked through 2011: 42 (home plate: 10)

Previous experience: Appalachian League, South Atlantic League, California League, Eastern League, Venezuela Winter League

Career ejections: Two (both in April 2012)

No-hitters called: Zero

Over/under record ( 2010-2011): 6-4

Hated in: Nowhere (yet)

Notable alleged blown calls: Cubs-Marlins, July 17, 2011; Nationals-Padres, April 24, 2012.

Claim to fame: Made his first career ejection on April 16, tossing White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper for arguing balls and strikes. His second ejection came this past week, so maybe he's getting more comfortable.

Scouting report from Major League Umpires' Performance, 2007-2010, by Andy Goldblatt:

Barrett was named a Triple-A call-up in 2010, only his second year at the top minor league level. ... Barrett started off with a tight strike zone. He issued six walks in the first three innings.

Scouting report from a random ESPN commenter:

Everybody saw what replay confirmed. It was clearly one of the worst calls I've witnessed in my 50 years on earth.

Average K/9 ( 2011): 13.7

Average BB/9 ( 2011): 6.1

Sample PITCHf/x strike zone: April 16, 2012. White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper thought Barrett was squeezing Chicago pitchers all night.

True fact: Went straight from high school to Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring, which he graduated from in 2003. Barrett also got married last November.

Strike 3 call:

To check out other installments of Better Know An Umpire, click here.