Valley umps Hirschbeck, Bell to work All-Star game

July 14, 2013 at 12:09a.m.

A little over a year ago, Poland’s John Hirschbeck wondered if he would ever get the opportunity to again umpire in the big leagues.

When Major League Baseball pauses Tuesday for its annual mid-summer classic, Hirschbeck will not only be back in the game but standing at home plate at New York’s Citi Field where he will call the balls and strikes for the 84th All-Star game.

He will be joined by Austintown native Wally Bell, who has been selected to work first base as the two Mahoning Valley residents will comprise one-third of the crew and oversee the game from the two most visible parts of the diamond. Hirschbeck and Bell are both working their third All-Star game.

For Hirschbeck, the game is a fitting way to cap what has been a trying year and a half as he continues his recovery from cancer and back surgery, which sidelined him last season and until this past March kept his 2013 campaign in limbo as well.

“This truly is humbling for me because the odds are just so great of being selected to work the game, yet alone with a friend from your own city,” Hirschbeck said. “To work the plate is also very special. It’s something that I can share with my entire family.”

Diagnosed with seminoma by local urologist Dr. Dan Ricchiuti, he underwent 28 chemotherapy sessions at the Cleveland Clinic, which zapped him of his strength and caused unwanted weight loss.

Cleveland Clinic doctors Stephen Jones and Tim Gilligan didn’t let Hirschbeck’s will to fight get zapped. He remained positive with a very realistic goal of returning to the big leagues.

“Dr. [Dan] Ricchiuti assured me that it would all be taken care of and that the prognosis was very good, but I went from 205 pounds to 172 pounds and at times it was a real challenge,” Hirschbeck added. “When I finally got the go-ahead to return, it was slow starting out in spring training but as I built up my stamina and continued to work out, I began to feel much better by mid-April, in part because I was able to start eating better.”

Hirschbeck worked the 1989 and 2004 games and Bell the 1997 and 2000 contests, yet this year’s game isn’t the first time that Mahoning Valley natives have been selected to work the game in the same season.

That distinction came at Atlanta’s Turner Field in 2000 when Bell was joined by fellow Austintown Fitch alum Brian O’Nora. (Hirschbeck’s brother, Mark, also was selected.)

Bell, who has also had a health scare and returned to the field in 1999 after open-heart surgery, said it’s a great feeling to be chosen for either the All-Star game or the postseason.

“It’s an honor to have been selected, but even more special when you get to work with a very good friend and colleague in John. I worked the 2006 World Series with him and know firsthand what an excellent umpire he is,” Bell said. “It is a well-deserved honor for John to have also been selected as the home plate umpire for this year’s game.”

Hirschbeck, who began his 31st MLB season on July 1, has also worked three World Series (1995, 2006 and 2010), eight Division Series and four League Championship Series while Bell, now in his 21st big league campaign, was chosen to work six Division Series and four League Championship Series in addition to his World Series assignment in 2006.

The game will be telecast by Fox beginning at 8 p.m.