Jerry Meals

From BR Bullpen

Gerald William Meals

Height 5' 8", Weight 168 lb.

Born October 20, 1961 in Butler, PA USA

Jerry Meals has been a major league umpire for over a decade. He spent 15 years in the minors, including stops in the Appalachian League (1983-1984), South Atlantic League (1985), Carolina League (1986), Southern League (1987-1989), Triple-A Alliance (1990-1991) and International League (1992-1997). He made it to the majors in 1998. His first year as an ump, he worked the plate in the game in which Kerry Wood tied the MLB record with 20 strikeouts. He worked the 2002 All-Star Game and will work the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

He made a controversial call in Game 3 of the 2009 NLDS, ruling that a ball hit by the Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley was fair, although replays showed that it had touched his foot in the batter's box and should have been ruled a foul ball. The hit was a key to the Phillies' winning run in the 9th inning in a 6-5 win over Colorado.