Deegan wore uniform number 17 when the American League adopted them for its umpires in 1980, later worn by John Hirschbeck.
He also umpired in the 1978 All Star Game and the 1976 World Series; he was the home plate umpire for Game Four of the Series, which the defending champion Cincinnati Reds won on the strength of Johnny Bench's two-home run, five-RBI performance to complete a sweep of the New York Yankees.
[2] He is one of a handful of umpires to have called balls and strikes for two no-hitters in the same season, and one of only three in modern history to do so in the same month, Dick Nallin (May, 1917) and Bill Dinneen (September, 1923) being the other two.
His work in the 1984 ALCS marked the last time an umpire called balls and strikes in a postseason game using the balloon-style outside chest protector which was common throughout the junior circuit until the early 1980s.
Deegan worked during two other umpire strikes: on Opening Day, 1991 at Tiger Stadium (the site of his last major league umpiring stint prior to this one) for the Yankees-Tigers game, and for six games during the 1995 season—the first week of major league play after the strike of 1994-95 ended.