Derryl Cousins - Umpiring Career

Umpiring Career

Cousins has umpired in the World Series in 1988, 1999 and 2005. He has also officiated in the All-Star Game in 1987, 1998 and 2008, and was behind the plate for the 2008 game at Yankee Stadium, which lasted a record 4 hours 50 minutes before ending in the 15th inning. He has worked in six American League Championship Series (1985, 1989, 1995, 2003, 2006, 2008), and in five Division Series (1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2007). Cousins was promoted to crew chief for the 2008 season.

Cousins has worn uniform number 13 since the AL adopted them in 1980. Since he was called up to the AL during the 1979 umpires' strike, he was not allowed to join the Major League Umpires Association, the former umpires' union which was headed by Richie Phillips. He is currently a member of the World Umpires Association, the new collective bargaining union of MLB umpires since 2000. Cousins is the only umpire hired as a "replacement" during the 1979 Major League Umpires Strike still in MLB, and the last umpire to have worn the American League's red blazer during its tenure in the AL (from 1973–1979). Cousins was also one of the few who wore the AL's red short-sleeved shirt in the late 1990s.

For the 2012 season, Cousins is a crew chief. His crew includes Jim Joyce (replaced by a AAA fill-in umpire due to Joyce's promotion to acting crew chief due to an injury to John Hirschbeck), Ron Kulpa, and Jim Wolf.