On April 1, 1996, the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos were playing an Opening Day game, and McSherry was the home plate umpire. Seven pitches into the game, McSherry called a timeout, spoke briefly to Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee, and walked slowly towards the Reds' dugout. Moments after signaling for the second base umpire to come in and replace him, McSherry stumbled forward and collapsed. Resuscitative efforts were begun on McSherry and he was taken to University Hospital in Cincinnati, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 51 years old.