NEW YORK - Major League Baseball umpire Wally Bell, who worked the NL Division Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals that ended last week, has died. He was 48. The commissioner's office confirmed Bell's death yesterday. He died of an apparent heart attack in his home state of Ohio.
Bell became the first active MLB umpire to die since John McSherry passed away of a heart attack on the field in Cincinnati on Opening Day in 1996.
Bell worked the 2006 World Series and three All-Star Games, including this year's event at Citi Field, where he was stationed at first base. A veteran of 21 big-league seasons, he had also worked four league championship series and seven division series since joining the major league staff in 1993.
According to Bell's biography on MLB.com, his proudest moment as a big-league umpire was returning to the field after open-heart surgery in 1999.