Dan Bellino


Daniel Anthony Bellino is an umpire in Major League Baseball.

Education

Bellino was a catcher for his high school, Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. He attended Northern Illinois University and managed the men's basketball team under Head Coach Brian Hammel. During his studies at the NIU College of Business, Dan was selected and attended a semester at Oxford University in England. He continued his education following his undergraduate work, holds a J.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA from the Brennan School of Business, and has passed the Illinois bar exam.

Umpiring career

Bellino has umpired Major League Baseball games since the 2008 season, he was promoted to the full-time MLB staff in. Bellino had previously umpired in the New York-Penn, Midwest, Florida State, Eastern, Pacific Coast and International leagues. Bellino worked his first major league game between the Orioles and Cubs at Wrigley Field in June, 2008. Bellino also worked in the Arizona Instructional League, Hawaii Winter League, Arizona Fall League, and Puerto Rico Winter League. Dan has been assigned to divisional post season assignments each year from 2014–2018, and was selected to work the opening series for the 2012 season in Tokyo between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics. Additionally, Bellino worked his first MLB All-Star Game in 2016 at Petco Park in San Diego, serving as the right field umpire, and has worked in the World Baseball Classic in Puerto Rico and Guadalajara.
Bellino originally wore uniform number 93 through the 2011 season. In 2012, he requested to change his uniform number to #2 following the retirement of long time umpire Jerry Crawford.

Outside baseball

Bellino worked for the law firm of Morici, Figioli & Associates and served as an aide for federal judge Charles P. Kocoras before attending umpire school. Holding both Juris Doctor and MBA degrees, Bellino's terminal law school research paper concerned the major league umpire union and 1999 umpires' strike. In 2008, Dan and his father Tony acquired the RE/MAX Superior Properties office in Huntley, Illinois. Currently, he manages a suburban law firm and serves as “of counsel” for the international law firm Lowis & Gellen LLP based in Chicago, IL. Bellino also owns and manages Elite Extremity MRI of Wisconsin.

Personal life

He lives in Crystal Lake, Illinois, with his wife and their four children. Dan’s oldest son is named after his brother, who died unexpectedly during Dan’s childhood.