Tibabijo’s education was not easy, being a referee in any sport, but especially in baseball, has not become a profession, for which he had to alternate his studies with working as a business administrator with training as a professional referee.
On the international level, Maikol started his journey in the Latin American Baseball Series in 2014, playing in Montería, an event he repeated in Panama 2015 and Nicaragua 2016. Thus, thanks to his great performances, he has been invited to many international tournaments. , many of them belong to the WBSC.
The life sheet of the barranquillero includes two World Under-23 Championships (2018–2022)a Premier 12 tournament (2019), the event, after the World Classic, the most important in the Confederation, among others a pre-Olympic (2021), World Classic qualifiers (2016).
“I miss the Caribbean Series, not a single Colombian referee has left. Colombia is not yet part of the Caribbean Confederation, so they didn’t invite any Colombian umpires. We hope to go soon,” Maikol said.
For the Colombian, currently 42 years old and with 18 years of experience calling balls and strikes, the key to his World Cup call-up was his performance in the Under-23 made in Taiwan in October 2022, where he was in the final of the tournament South Korea and Japan as chief referee.
Maikol, who is due to report in Miami, Florida, on March 6, thinks the Classic could be a great showcase to show off internationally, though he also makes it clear that to enter the MLB system as an umpire you have to make a career from an early age, “just like the players.”
“I’ve prepared myself physically and watched videos of situations from previous Clásicos. I’ve also been to some games here in Barranquilla. Overall I try to stay calm, focused on a great performance, because when you get desperate you can make mistakes,” he said.
Source: El heraldo
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