Rick Reed was a major league umpire for 28 years. The native of Rochester, Mich., umpired the 1991 World Series between the Twins and Braves, a series many think was the best in history. He also worked three American League Championship series, three divisional series and two All-Star games. Reed, 60, suffered two strokes, yet was able to ump games in the majors in 2009. Reed is an observer for the commissioner's office, watching umpires in Detroit and Toledo. He and his wife of 33 years, Cindy, have two sons — Ryan, 30, and Tyler, 17 — and await their first grandchild, who is due in a month.

I saw an ad in the back of the Sporting News. I was in my senior year of college at Eastern Michigan, and I wasn't excited about my job prospects. I had never been to Florida, and all the umpire schools were in Florida. I had taken a class in umpiring at school and aced the tests. My instructor, who was the coach at EMU at the time, suggested I try.

It's not paved with gold, that's for sure. Less than 1 percent of the people who graduate from umpire school work their way through the minors up to the major leagues. You have be highly motivated, thick skinned, and be lucky — and not necessarily in that order.

I enjoyed going out and performing at a level that was extremely hard to reach and maintain. Everyone expects you to be perfect on your first day, and then get better. I enjoyed the challenge of working to reach a high level. Since I grew up in Detroit, a lot of people asked me if I had any bias toward the Tigers. I always told them that the first time the Tigers yelled at me for a call, that took care of any bias I might have.

That was a terrific series. We had four walk-off games in that series, and the home team won every game. It was a great World Series. I also remember that, the day after the World Series ended, 24 inches of snow fell in Minneapolis.

That was a great experience. John C. Reilly was the catcher for the movie, and I remember the first dress rehearsal. Reilly gives a sign to Kevin [Costner] and moves to the inside of the plate; Kevin winds up and fires, and the first pitch sails over John's shoulder and hits me in the mask. Hard. Kevin runs off the mound and says, “John, you've got to catch that ball!” John yells back, “I put my mitt out — you missed hitting my glove!” I got hit 13 more times in that rehearsal.

It was really cool. I grew up in the place, getting there as the gates would open, and all of those memories came back on that last day. After the game, I stood on the field next to [Tigers broadcaster] Ernie Harwell the whole time. That was special.

That was cold. I remember having to snow-blow my driveway before I left for the park. When I got there, they were shoveling snow to the drains, then melting it with water.

We have come to the realization that we are humans doing a thankless job. Think about this: While players play half of their games at home, we're almost always on the road. With umpires now working in both leagues, there were seasons where I would have only series in Detroit all season long.

I remember once Lou Piniella was coming out to argue a call, and he tripped while running up the steps. In Chicago there's a high third step, and he tripped on it, crashed and landed on the warning track. He got up, kicked the dirt, then went back into the dugout. He had lost his moment.

I had a stroke before a game in Colorado. Before the game I wasn't feeling well, a little dizzy. Early in the game there was a ground ball, and as I ran down the first-base line I had a hard time picking up my left leg. I tried to pick up a catcher's mask with my left hand, and my arm was so numb I had to pick it up with my right hand. I was worried then. But I got through the game — a plate game, no less — and I flew home the next day. Then I flew to Milwaukee for a game, and as I ran out to third base I had trouble running because of my left leg. After the game, the trainers came to me and five minutes later I was on my way to a hospital.

First Published July 4, 2010, 2:49 p.m.