Progress: Gibson’s got a full plate

April 01--Greg Gibson was warned when he dipped his toes into the high-stakes world of commercial insurance.

"Everybody talks about, it's stressful, and the pressure," Gibson said, "and I kinda laugh because I'm like, you guys have no idea."

The Boyd County resident is known for his much-higher-profile job -- this week he began his 20th season as a full-time Major League Baseball umpire.

Gibson's career has afforded him opportunities to be part of baseball history -- serving as arbiter for a World Series, an All-Star Game, 15 other playoff assignments, two World Baseball Classics, Randy Johnson's 2004 perfect game and Clayton Kershaw's 2014 no-hitter.

But three years ago, Gibson, 49, realized he needed a post-baseball plan.

"The closer I get to retirement, the more I started thinking, I'm not gonna sit around the house and do nothing," Gibson said. "I've worked my whole life. One of the things that I'm learning, getting older, working with older guys, is, they don't teach a man how to retire, and I don't plan on it. I plan on retiring from baseball at some point -- I don't know when, that's kind of in God's hands -- but I plan to come home and do something else."

So Gibson has taken up a second career selling insurance. He began at Bob Meenach's State Farm shop in Flatwoods and has since moved on to Thornburg Insurance Agency in Huntington.

He's also returned to college. Gibson is taking undergraduate business classes at Eastern Kentucky University, with a focus on risk management and insurance, and is on track to graduate next spring.

Additionally, Gibson is halfway, he says, to earning the distinction of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, which requires additional education, experience and expertise.

"They think I'm just a major league umpire with an insurance license," Gibson said. "I want some initials behind my name so they just don't think, hey, he got a license (but) he's not invested in this."

Gibson's former boss and mentor, whom he still regularly consults, would say otherwise.

"The thing about old Greg, he's got the heart of a servant," Meenach said. "Greg has never asked me how much money he makes. He got a check, but he's never asked ... Greg has bought into that concept of, I know if I do a good job for my people, I'm gonna be paid well for doing it. He never once asked, what's in it for me, (but instead,) how do I take care of my people?"

Gibson moved from Meenach's office to Thornburg because, in part, of the flexibility it afforded. Commercial insurance is more about businesses' property and casualty and workers' compensation, Gibson said, than what Meenach does, which he termed as "like a family doctor, so to speak."

"You can't really talk about a guy's house and cars on an airplane going from New York to L.A.," Gibson said. "With where I'm at now, if the business is good enough, we can handle anywhere. I told my boss, I've got a couple clients in Georgia already, and he was like, better get a license (in Georgia).

"Commercial, you're always learning. If you think you know everything about commercial, somebody's gonna throw a knuckleball or a curve at you, and I love it."

Gibson is licensed in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia and is adding Florida to the list, he said.

The week of Feb. 25 through March 3 was particularly hectic for Gibson. He left for Florida on March 3 for spring training. Earlier in the week, he had insurance appointments and wrapped up a nine-hour offseason course load at EKU.

Gibson has been able to do much -- but not all -- of his coursework remotely. He said two of his professors have made him drive to Richmond to take tests, "just to keep me honest, which I don't mind."

"They're not just giving this to me, they're making me earn it," Gibson said. "My insurance classes have been work. When there's times they realize I can't get home, they'll send me the test, and they time it. They literally give me the same amount of time they had in class. They send that email; I better be sittin' there waiting on it, and I got 75 minutes to get it back in. They're working with me, but I gotta put the work into it."

Gibson plans to take two classes this summer and will do an internship in the fall -- he hopes, not until after the Fall Classic.

"I want to have a good year in umpiring this year," Gibson said before musing, "last year I probably took on a little too much."

Gibson took care of his body over the winter by lifting weights, running and watching his meals, with the help of his wife, Michelle.

He's also had to do the homework on MLB's new pace-of-play rule changes, designed to take some time off the length of games, announced by commissioner Rob Manfred in February.

All that and Gibson's efforts to spend time with his wife and three sons, Kyle, Cameron and Carter, have kept him hopping -- which is exactly how he likes it.

"You don't waste a minute, and it's good," Gibson said. "You know what you gotta get done, and if it means going to bed at 2 a.m. and getting up at 6, that's what you do. One of the things I'll say is, I'll outwork you. I may not be better than you, but I'll outwork you.

"That's what got me where it got me in the umpire world. There's a lot of guys better than me, but I went through the minor leagues ... I'll work my rear off every day."

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