The fight of a lifetime

Sporting News, The, June 3, 1996 by Steve Marantz

McSherry died six years out from his initial treatment at Duke. His death hit the staff hard, he was as affable and well-liked as Gregg. In McSherry staff members realized the ultimate futility of a quixotic quest. Some lay his death to a void of new medication others to a lack of fitness, skill others to incorrigible eating habits. A perception McSherry failed himself exists alongside an intimation the center failed him.

One specialist voices this painful ambiguity to me. McSherry might not have lived as long as he did without the help he received at Duke, suggests Mike Scholtz an exercise physiologist who helped the fallen umpire with conditioning.

"The last time John was here he was lighter than his heaviest," Scholtz says. "So you can't say he wasn't successful. If he had been at 450, maybe he would have died sooner."

Still, Scholtz wonders, "He never got to where he wanted to. If he had taken off more weight, maybe he would have prolonged his life."

Eric Gregg does not have to be John McSherry. If Gregg succeeds where McSherry failed, specialists say hopefully, it may be because his weight is distributed differently. Gregg has large legs and buttocks; McSherry carried weight disproportionately in his upper body, putting greater strain on his heart.

But to improve his odds, and possibly save his job--if weight and conditioning requirements are implemented--Gregg must change his eating and fitness behavior. He is embarked upon a tenacious fitness regimen, with up to four hours of weigh/lifting, swimming, walking and water aerobics. Indeed, Duke nutritionists increased his calorie allowance from 1,200 to 1,500 to better fuel his pace. He characterizes his high-fiber, low-fat diet--salads, vegetables, fruit, potatoes, pasta, lean meat--as satisfying.

Question is, can Gregg hold to his new lifestyle upon returning to baseball? Umpires have afternoons free, leaving ample opportunity for exercise. But umpires also have a generous expense allowance to fund lavish eating and drinking after games. Food eaten before sleeping is not efficiently metabolized.

"You've had a tough game, you're lonely, there's problems at home, you want to hang out," Gregg says. "First you say, ,I'll have a drink" and then you want to eat something. It's tough. Nobody is watching you. The hotel room is boring. You want to go out."

The solution, specialists say, is for Gregg to eat a light breakfast, a large meal in early afternoon and light snacks before and after a game. He should drink water, diet soda or juice instead of beer. But to change his behavior permanently, a Duke specialist suggests, Gregg must confront his umpire's personality.

"They tend to want to appease everybody, just like in a game," nutritionist Franca Alphin says. "They have to make the call, but they don't want to irritate anybody. So if somebody says"Hey, let's do this" instead of saying"I have to go home" you go with the flow. That type of personality has difficulty implementing a behavioral change. It goes against the nature of who they are."