Interview with Kevin Gregg, Boston Red Sox Director of Media Relations

Interview with Kevin Gregg conducted by Bill Nowlin on September 8 and 22, 2015.

Red Sox Director of Media Relations Kevin Gregg (since 2013) is son of former National League umpire Eric Gregg, who first worked in the majors in 1976 until the umpire strike in 1999. Eric Gregg’s autobiography, Working the Plate, written with Marty Appel, provides the story of his life up to 1990, the year of its publication.

Kevin Gregg: I was born in April 1980. I’m the second of four in my family. An older brother, Eric, then a sister, Ashley, and another brother, Jamie.

BN: Your dad was well-established in the National League, then, by the time you were born.

The whole time you grew up, your father was a major-league umpire. What was that like growing up?

KG: Oh, my God. It was amazing. I loved every second of it because I was immersed in baseball. Totally. Spring training, regular season, postseason. My earliest memories were meeting other umpires, meeting players, taking pictures with players. As a kid, there was stuff I didn’t realize was happening but I would later see in pictures — Pete Rose, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Schmidt — all these greats that I met. And also other umpires — Rich Garcia, Terry Tata, Frank Pulli, all these guys while I was growing up. It was just awesome.

Naturally, I gravitated toward baseball. I just wanted to do anything I could related to baseball. I loved it, absolutely loved it.

BN: Thinking of peer reaction as you were growing up, did all the kids think it was pretty cool that your dad was a big-league umpire?

KG: Oh, definitely. Definitely. I was always getting asked for tickets or baseball advice or stories. And Dad would always allow me to bring friends to Veterans Stadium for games. Almost every time my dad would have a game at Shea Stadium, he would stay [at home] in Philly and drive. He’d take me out of school at about 2 PM, drive up to the game, and come home like 1 in the morning. Then I’d go back to school, and we’d do it again the next day.

BN: When you were young and your father was umpiring, did you hear some abuse hurled his way? What was that like, maybe having people say hurtful things about your own father?

KG: The comments I heard were at Shea Stadium or Veteran’s Stadium, and it was just when something went against the home team. There was never anything personal. It was just like, “Well, that’s a terrible call” or “This guy’s blind.” Stuff like that. At the time, when you’re 10 years old, you’re kind of….

BN: But you knew it was your father making the call.

KG: It was typically a play at home plate, or a call at one of the bases when he was there. There was one time in Philly — just a little thing — when a guy said, “That’s a terrible call, Blue” — I hate when they call umpires “Blue,” by the way. He said, “That’s a terrible call, Blue.” And somebody said, “Hey, that’s the guy from Philly.” I thought, “Well, at least they know who he is.” I remember that sometimes I would look to see if I could see the person who was saying something, if they were near me. If my mom was with us, she’d say, “Don’t pay them no mind.” But I never heard anything that was so bad.

[Kevin said he never heard anything really over the top, but became aware later that his father “definitely got some death threats after the ‘97 NLCS. I remember seeing letters, from Braves fans after the ‘97 NLCS. I definitely saw some nasty stuff.” His parents shielded their kids from that at the time.]

BN: You were in and out of the umpires’ room….

KG: Oh, absolutely. All over the National League. I remember when I knew I was hooked on baseball is when I was 11 years old. My older brother — two years older than me — went to summer camp up here in New Hampshire on Lake Winnipesauke. I didn’t want to go, because I knew I could travel with my dad. One summer we did a bunch of different trips. We did San Fran, San Diego — just he and I — then we did Atlanta, New York, Montreal….

My dad handed me 20 bucks at like 5 o’clock. I’d stand at the batting cage and throw balls, hit balls, go in the locker room, or go up in the stands and just wander around all by myself. I loved it. That’s when I knew I wanted to be in baseball.

BN: Did you ever think about becoming an umpire?

KG: I thought about it. He and I never talked about it. I thought about it, but just like any kid, I just wanted to play.

BN: Of course, with the 1999 strike, he was gone.

KG: I was in college when that happened, yeah. I graduated high school in June 1998. I always wanted to play. My younger brother did go to umpire school. He went out to that camp in Compton, California a few years back, but then decided it wasn’t for him.

I was a sports management major at James Madison and I needed to do an internship to graduate. My dad knew the general manager at the time of the Sixers, Billy King, from his days at Duke. Billy went to Duke. My dad went to Duke Diet and Fitness Center to lose weight. He got me connected there, so I got a Sixers PR internship — the ‘02-’03 season.

The Phillies hired me in marketing as a merchandising intern in May 2003. I started two days after I graduated college, in 2003, the last year of Veterans Stadium, and then for the first year of Citizens Bank Park before I became their PR intern.

I PR interned for ‘04 and then three-quarters of the ‘05 season before the Sixers had a fulltime job. I went there and I was still at the Sixers when my dad passed [2006] so he never got to see me get back to baseball fulltime.

I was with the Phillies for six seasons. Phillies, from 2007 to ‘12. Those were great years. 2007 ended a 14-year playoff drought. We went to the World Series in ‘08 and back to the World Series in ‘09. Had the best record in the NL in ‘10 and ‘11, and then finished at .500 in ‘12. I was essentially the number two media relations person. Media Relations Assistant, Coordinator, and then Manager.

BN: I saw you come into the umpires’ room the other day, to say hello to the umpires. Do you do that on a regular basis?

KG: Yeah, I do. It’s two-fold. At baseball, in PR, at the Winter Meetings each year, they urge that the home media director check in with the umpires to make sure they’re comfortable and in case there’s any media questions after the game. And the other half is knowing the guys that I know. I saw Dan Iassogna the other day. Tom Hallion, the guys who used to work with my father. Gerry Davis. Phil Cuzzi, Angel Hernandez. It’s always good to see those guys. CB Bucknor. Some guys have since retired, too — Ed Rapuano…but it’s really good to see those guys.

Vic Carapazza, his father-in-law is Rich Garcia. I grew up with Stephanie Garcia, who is married to Vic. When we were kids in spring training, we spent time. This was mostly between the ages of 8-12 years old during spring trainings in Florida. My dad was always based in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We’d go to Richie’s house or another umpire’s for dinner and catch up then.

It was just so much fun growing up that way. I see what these guys do with their kids now and I grew up a similar way — running on the field after the game, getting chased by security for being in places we probably weren’t supposed to be and stuff, collecting baseballs, broken bats, and stuff. A lot of the equipment I used, I got from players — cleats, gloves….

BILL NOWLIN, known to none as “The Old Arbiter” since he has never worked a game behind the plate, still favors the balloon chest protector for its nostalgic aesthetics. Aside from a dozen years as a college professor, his primary life’s work was as a co-founder of Rounder Records (it got him inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame). He’s written or edited more than 50 books, mostly on baseball, and has been on the Board of Directors of SABR since the magic Red Sox year of 2004.