His professional umpiring career began after he attended the
Joe Brinkman Umpire School in 1981. He was elevated to the AL for the 1986 season. In 2000, the American and
National Leagues combined umpiring staffs. He wore uniform number 4 beginning in the late 1980s. For the 2007 season, Tschida was promoted to a crew chief position, and his crew included
Jim Joyce,
Jeff Nelson and
Jim Wolf. His crew in 2011 included
Jeff Nelson,
Marty Foster and
Bill Welke. Tschida's 2012 crew consisted of
Jeff Nelson,
Bill Welke, and
Chris Guccione. A report by
The Hardball Times asserts that Tschida called the smallest
strike zone of all MLB umpires in 2011.
Achievements He worked in thirteen postseasons, including the
World Series in
1998,
2002 and
2008; the
League Championship Series in
1993,
1999, and
2000; and the
Division Series in
1996,
1997,
1998,
2001,
2002,
2006,
2007,
2008, and
2009. He worked the
All-Star Game in
1992 and
2002. He was the second base umpire for the single-game playoff to decide the NL's
2007 wild card team. He was also the third base umpire for
Kenny Rogers's
perfect game on July 28, 1994, and the home plate umpire for
Nolan Ryan's seventh
no-hitter on May 1, and Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter on September 14, 2008. Home plate umpire for Tom Kramer's one hitter on May 24, 1993, in Cleveland's Municipal stadium.
Controversies On August 3, 1987, Tschida was the plate umpire when he ejected
Minnesota Twins pitcher
Joe Niekro for possessing an
emery board. On August 4, 1999,
Anaheim Angels hitter
Orlando Palmeiro struck out to lead off a game and then dropped his bat at home plate, prompting Tschida, the home-plate umpire, to eject him. However, manager
Terry Collins convinced Tschida to allow Palmeiro back into the game, as Palmeiro had merely been leaving the bat at home plate because every hitter was using the same bat. Tschida made a widely disputed call in the 1999 ALCS in which
Chuck Knoblauch applied a "phantom tag" to
José Offerman. The call was ranked the worst call in sports history by readers of
ESPN Playbook. On June 19, 2012,
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher
Joel Peralta was ejected by Tschida for having
pine tar inside his glove. ==Personal life==