I think Ed lives out in California...maybe he stayed home for an extra night? Usually the 4 crew guys make their own arrangements, I believe.

the guy in the dugout was an assistant i believe. ive been to tons of cubs games and theres usually either that old guy in an umpire hat and shirt, or a younger kid wearing a black umpire shirt (usually wearing shorts). im sure there are more, but i dont think the guy in the dugout was one of the scheduled umpires...could have been though.

He didn't miss his flight. Weather conditions forced cancellations and postponed flights.

Bob

Well yeah, but the media can't report on something like that, in their eyes the umpires always did something wrong.

I was there, mrm. He walked onto the field in the bottom of the 2nd. My buddies and I thought that was rather different.

I wasn't there, but I watched the game on TV. If he got there in the 2nd inning, why didn't he just jump in and umpire? They worked 3-man the whole game.

I'm talking about the Sox game, not the Cubs game. McClelland got into the game when the bottom of the 2nd began.

Mr. Lepperd
 

Tom Lepperd, current MLB umpire executive, told me a funny "war story". Once, he was called up from AAA to fill-in for a sick (or vacationing?) MLB umpire for a game in Yankee Stadium. His flight arrived late in New York.

He said he got in the cab at the airport and told the driver to, "hurry up I'm supposed to be umpiring the game at Yankee Stadium."

The driver responded (I paraphrase), "sure, Mac."

The driver was listening to the game on the radio. And sure enough less than two minutes after he had said to Mr. Lepperd, "sure, Mac" the announcers says that the game "is being played with only three umpires as the fourth umpire, a AAA call-up, is a late arrival."

Tom said the cab driver turned around in the cab, gave him a long look (as if to say, holy S***...your serious)...and took off like a bat out of hell. Mr. Lepperd just walked onto the field when he arrived.