CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the grand theater of Major League Baseball, the spotlight shines brightest on the sluggers launching home runs and pitchers painting corners with 100-mph fastballs. But behind the scenes, in the shadows of the stadium tunnels, work the unsung heroes who keep the game functioning. Few embodied this essential role better than Jack Efta, Cleveland’s longtime umpire room attendant who recently passed away.

On a recent episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, former MLB umpire Dale Scott joined hosts Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes to share memories of Efta, painting a vivid portrait of a man whose meticulous attention to detail made him legendary among the men in blue.

“Jack was a type of guy that [was] very compartmentalized,” Scott recalled. “When you walked into the u

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