Vic Carapazza


Victor Joseph Carapazza is a Major League Baseball umpire. He wears uniform number 19, and previously wore uniform number 85.

Personal life

Carapazza was born in Port Jefferson, New York. In 1998 he graduated from Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida. Prior to becoming an umpire Carapazza served in the United States Air Force. He has four daughters with his wife Stephanie and is the son-in-law of former American League umpire Rich Garcia.

Umpiring career

From 2003 until 2012 Carapazza was an umpire with several minor leagues, including the International League. He began umpiring Major League Spring Training in 2009.
Carapazza made his Major League Baseball umpiring debut on April 9, 2010 in St. Petersburg, Florida as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees 9–3, working third base in that game. He umpired in 29 games in 2010, and returned in 2011, umpiring in 133 games.
Carapazza was hired to the full-time Major League Baseball staff in early January 2013.
He served as the right-field umpire during the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, marking his first such assignment. Carapazza also umpired in the 2014 National League Division Series, and in Game 2 he ejected Washington Nationals second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera and manager Matt Williams in the 10th inning for arguing balls and strikes.
Carapazza faced controversy after a game on July 1, 2016 between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians. Blue Jay fans booed Carapazza in response to calls made during the 2015 American League Division Series. Carapazza went on to eject Blue Jay players Russell Martin, Edwin Encarnacion, manager John Gibbons, and called 9 Jays out-on-strikes, compared to only 1 of the visiting Indians. Sportsnet commentator Greg Zaun accused Carapazza of being "incompetent" while Sid Seixeiro called the game a "fireable offence".
Carapazza has called three consecutive American League Division Series.
For the 2018 regular season he was found to be a Top 10 performing home plate umpire in terms of accuracy in calling balls and strikes. His error rate was 8.05 percent. This was based on a study conducted at Boston University where 372,442 pitches were culled and analyzed.