HOLLAND, Mich. — Not often do you hear about people with a rooting interest in the umpires at a baseball game. That's where Stu Fritz will put his focus during the 119th World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers.
Before D.J. Reyburn was calling balls and strikes in the big leagues, he was playing centerfield for Fritz at Hope College.
“He, and actually a group of four of his teammates from DeWitt, were part of my first class," said Fritz, who has been the school's head baseball coach since the 1994 season. "We won three conference championships with him in the program.”
Reyburn graduated from Hope College in 1999— once a student of the school, but always a student of the game.
"He had a conversation with his college roommate when he was a sophomore in college, and said, 'That'd be really cool to do this,'" Fritz told FOX 17.
"He might tell you that he really didn't know what else he wanted to do," Fritz added. "That's why he took that path.”
The path hasn't been easy, Fritz said, but now, it has led Reyburn to baseball's biggest stage.
Reyburn is no stranger to the big moment, though.
“I believe that he was on the field for Derek Jeter's last game," Fritz said. "He's had some just iconic moments in the history of our game. Last year, he had home plate for the Wild Card series with the Cardinals. So, my wife and I were at that game.”
Reyburn is also no stranger to the managers of these two World Series' teams.
Arizona Diamondbacks' skipper Torey Lovullo's first career ejection came in 2017 at the hands of Reyburn.
Reyburn also tossed Texas' Rangers manager Bruce Bochy earlier this season.
“He's not big in stature, and he's huge in heart," Fritz said.
Fritz and Reyburn have remained friends all these years later, and he'll be in the stands at Globe Life Field on Friday.
“There won't be a dry eye in the stands around us, I don't think, when the first pitch is thrown," Fritz said.
The moment certainly comes with a lot of pressure, but pressure is a privilege.
Fritz said Reyburn has earned it.
“He's a very committed person to really everything in his life," Fritz said. "To his family, to his faith, to his profession. So, it doesn't surprise me. He's waited his turn. Tonight's the night.”
First pitch for Friday's Game 1 is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. You can watch it on FOX 17.
