Career

Vanover worked in several minor leagues before his major league debut in 1993. He officiated in the South Atlantic League, Midwest League, Southern League, American Association, Pacific Coast League, International League and Venezuelan League.

Vanover was behind the plate when Marge Schott came on the field just prior to an April 1996 Astros-Reds doubleheader and apologized to Vanover for her Opening Day comments following the death of umpire John McSherry. The Opening Day game had been postponed after McSherry collapsed on the field; he died at a local hospital. After the game was postponed, Schott had said, "I feel cheated."

Vanover was one of 22 umpires who resigned during the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation. The negotiation strategy failed when baseball officials simply accepted the resignations and hired replacement umpires. After a protracted legal battle, Vanover and eight other umpires regained their major league jobs for the 2002 season.

MLB appointed Vanover to serve as crew chief for the 2014 Legend Series at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, Panama on March 15-16.

Vanover spent the 2014 season as an interim crew chief while regular crew chief Tim McClelland was on the Disabled List. He was officially promoted to permanent crew chief upon McClelland's retirement prior to the 2015 season.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]