Jon Bible, longtime college baseball umpire and Hall of Fame Inductee, dies at age 75
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Jon Bible, a former member of the College Baseball Foundation’s Board of Trustees and 2019 inductee to the Hall of Fame, died Saturday after a short battle with a cancer. He was 75.
“The College Baseball Hall of Fame mourns the loss of Jon Bible, a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee and former member of our Board of Trustees,” College Baseball Foundation and Hall of Fame CEO/Executive Director, Tom Jacobs said. “A legendary umpire and steadfast leader in our game, Jon's integrity, passion, and decades-long commitment to college baseball leave an enduring legacy both on and off the field.”
Below is an excerpt from Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls. The full story can be read here.
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AUSTIN, Texas - Jon Bible, one of the most respected umpires in the history of college baseball, died Saturday after a short battle with a cancer. He was 75.
Bible, a Houston native who pitched for Robert E. Lee High School, was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in mid-February and died Saturday morning. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn.
Highly decorated as an umpire since first officiating Little League games and then umpiring Texas Longhorn games for 42 consecutive seasons alongside equally noted umpire and good friend Randy Christal, Bible began calling balls and strikes at Longhorn baseball games in 1974. He worked the very first Texas game at Disch-Falk Field against St. Mary's in February 1975.
He was inducted into the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, and Christal would later join him in that group.
"I lost one of my dearest friends whose avocation paralleled mine through the years," Christal told the Houston Chronicle Saturday afternoon. "I know he made me a better umpire. He was outstanding and admired, and I really believe he was one of the top four or five greatest amateur officials, high school or colleges, that ever breathed."
Bible was the great nephew of College Football Hall of Fame coach D.X. Bible, who served as head coach at both Texas and Texas A&M as well as Nebraska and LSU.
