Jim Evans

James Bremond Evans (born November 5, 1946) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League (AL) from 1971 to 1999, and ran a professional umpiring school from 1990 through 2012.

Career Evans began umpiring Little League games at age 14, where his playing experience as a catcher helped in judging balls and strikes. He attended Kilgore College on scholarship before attending the University of Texas at Austin (UT). He umpired high school and college baseball while attending college. He left UT temporarily in his senior year when he was offered a job in the Florida State League, making him the last umpire hired in professional baseball who had not attended an umpire school. Following his first season in pro baseball (1968), Evans returned to UT in the fall and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in education in January 1969. A month after graduating from UT, Evans attended the newly formed MLB Umpire Development Program in February and March 1969 where he graduated first in this inaugural class. After graduation from umpire school, his minor league contract was purchased by Texas League president Bobby Bragan. Evans then worked in the Texas League (1969–70) and American Association (1971).

Evans is one of few umpires in history who have worked in two perfect games, having been the third base umpire for Mike Witt's perfect game on September 30, 1984, and the second base umpire for David Cone's perfect game on July 18, 1999. Evans was the home plate umpire both for Nolan Ryan's first no-hitter (May 15, 1973) and Don Sutton's 300th career victory (June 18, 1986).

In addition to instructing in the United States, Evans has trained umpires in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. In 2014, he was hired as an umpire advisor by MiLB, acting as a consultant to the MiLB president.

Personal life Evans served in the Texas Air National Guard for a 6-year enlistment and was later commissioned in the US Army Reserves. He served in the Army Reserves for 8 years and was honorably discharged as a Captain.

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