Controversies
In 1996, Garcia made a controversial call during Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees; he was umpiring in right field. In the 8th inning, the Yankees tied the game 4-4 when Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to right field that 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier pulled into the stands after reaching over the right field wall. Garcia ruled it a home run, but after seeing a replay admitted that he had made a mistake after the game; the Yankees won the game in 11 innings and would go on to win the series.
Another call by Garcia that was questioned by some media members came in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series. Padres pitcher Mark Langston appeared to have struck out Tino Martinez on a 2–2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the 7th inning with the game tied at 5-5. Garcia, however, called the pitch a ball, and Martinez hit Langston's next pitch for a grand slam.
Garcia took part in the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation which was engineered by Richie Phillips, the union's executive director. When the strategy backfired, Garcia lost his job because his resignation was one of the 22 accepted by Major League Baseball. After working as a consultant for the baseball commissioner's office, he was hired as a MLB umpire supervisor in 2002. On March 8 of that year, the Daily News (New York City) disclosed that in 1989 he and National League umpire Frank Pulli had associated with Florida-based bookmakers who were known drug dealers. Three days later, the Boston Herald reported that, according to information collected from federal wiretaps, both umpires had problems paying off their gambling debts. The punishment MLB had applied to Garcia and Pulli at the time was only two years' probation. Garcia, along with fellow supervisors Marty Springstead and Jim McKean, were ousted on March 6, 2010 as a result of a 2009 postseason which was plagued by various high-profile questionable calls that drew a firestorm of criticism from fans and the media.
He was promoted to AL crew chief in 1985. He has instructed at various umpire schools for several years and also conducted umpiring clinics during the offseason when he was an active major league umpire.
Garcia played the first base umpire in the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston.
Garcia currently resides in Clearwater. He and his wife Sheryl have four children and ten grandchildren.
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