Major League Baseball

Umpire Joyce credited for life-saving effort

Published Aug. 23, 2012 3:05 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Umpire Jim Joyce is being credited with taking quick action to help save the life of a food service worker who collapsed of an apparent heart attack at Chase Field.

Russ Amaral, vice president of ballpark operations, says Joyce happened to be walking past Jayne Powers when she collapsed before Monday night's game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins.

After deciding it wasn't a seizure, as some of her co-workers suggested, Joyce quickly started CPR.

Marlins bullpen catcher Jeff Urgelles, a former firefighter and paramedic, was called to the scene and began helping Joyce.

Paramedics arrived moments later and transported the woman to a hospital, where her conditioned improved.

Joyce, Urgelles and others involved were honored in a brief ceremony before Wednesday night's series finale. Urgelles carried the Marlins' lineup card to home plate.

Joyce is best remembered for blowing the call that cost Detroit's Armando Galarraga a perfect game on June 2, 2010. A major league umpire for 24 years, he was the crew chief for the Diamondbacks-Marlins series. Galarraga famously said he had no ill feelings after the umpire acknowledged he had missed the call and apologized for doing so.

Joyce did not respond to a request made through Major League Baseball on Wednesday to comment on this week's incident.

But he told MLB.com on Tuesday that he knew he had to act quickly when he saw the woman go down.

''I knew something was wrong,'' Joyce said. ''And I knew if something wasn't done, this lady could actually die in front of me. It was more instinct than anything else.''

He also said he and his wife had an emotional visit with Powers in the hospital on Tuesday.

In Wednesday's pregame announcement, the Diamondbacks said Powers was having a pacemaker installed and would be released from the hospital in a few days.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball