CINCINNATI - The inch of snow had melted, the sun was peeking through, an opening-day crowd of 53,000 was abuzz, and home plate umpire John McSherry was joking around.

''In fact, he said, 'Eddie, you can call the first two innings,''' Cincinnati Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee said. ''He seemed to be in good spirits.''

Just seven pitches into the season opener yesterday between the Reds and the Montreal Expos, the hefty umpire with a history of medical problems backed away from the plate, waved to the other umpires, took a few labored steps and collapsed at 2:11 p.m. EST.

A medical crew that included doctors who bolted from the stands tried to revive McSherry, but couldn't get a response. He was pronounced dead at University Hospital about an hour later.

The hospital said McSherry, who had planned to see doctors Tuesday about an irregular heart beat, had sudden cardiac death, a condition in which the heart beats out of control.

Although the other umpires were willing to continue out of respect to McSherry, the teams were too emotional to play. The game was canceled and will be replayed in its entirety Tuesday.

''It would have been inappropriate to play the game,'' Reds first baseman Hal Morris said. ''It was important to call it off.''

''The game was not going to be anything if we played,'' Expos manager Felipe Alou said. ''The two starting pitchers were already devastated.''

McSherry, 51, was considered one of the more personable umpires, always willing to talk things out.

''Whether or not he was right, he was always fair,'' Reds manager Ray Knight said. ''He would never try to overpower you. He was a supportive, solid, caring umpire.''

He also had a history of medical problems that finally caught up with him.

McSherry, listed at 328 pounds, was named a crew chief in July 1988, replacing Lee Weyer, who died of a heart attack two weeks earlier.

Last August, he was forced to leave a game between Atlanta and Chicago because of heat exhaustion. In 1993, he left a game in Cincinnati against Los Angeles after becoming ill in 87-degree heat and was sidelined for much of the season.

McSherry was forced to leave Game 7 of the 1992 NL playoffs between Pittsburgh and Atlanta in the second inning because of dizziness. A year earlier, he collapsed because of dehydration during a game between St. Louis and Atlanta.

Umpire Tom Hallion told Knight that McSherry was supposed to be treated Tuesday for arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat.

''He said John was supposed to go get his arrhythmia (treated) earlier, and he didn't want to do that,'' Knight said. ''He made the statement that, 'I'm going to be here opening day with them and then go get that tomorrow.'''

Umpires are given annual physical checkups. McSherry was examined in February, the NL said.

McSherry seemed to be fine before the game as horse-drawn wagons circled the field and former Reds manager Sparky Anderson threw out a ceremonial first pitch to Knight, who was managing his first game.

Mark Grudzielanek flied out to open the game, and Mike Lansing struck out against Pete Schourek. After the second pitch to Rondell White, McSherry backed away from the plate, waved to second-base umpire Steve Rippley with his right hand, and started towards the dressing room.

He fell face-first when he reached the warning track behind the plate.

''After the second pitch to Rondell White, he just said, 'Hold on, time out for a second,''' Taubensee said. ''I turned around and said, 'Are you all right, John?' He didn't say anything. I thought maybe he pulled something (a muscle) by the way he was walking. After he collapsed, I lost it.''

The other umpires covered their faces and were consoled by players and Knight as doctors worked on McSherry for 15 minutes before he was taken to the hospital.

''Once we rolled John over, he never regained consciousness,'' umpire Jerry Crawford said. ''I don't think he heard me talking to him.''

Knight, Alou, Reds general manager Jim Bowden and owner Marge Schott met with the umpires after McSherry was taken away. They initially considered resuming the game with two umpires - Hallion had left for the hospital.

''The players, both managers and myself with Steve consulted and felt this is best to do with the emotion involved and the way things are going,'' Crawford said.

The players met, decided they were too broken up to continue, then talked to the umpires. The game was called off.

''The team is rattled, really rattled,'' Knight said. ''Nobody wanted to play after seeing something like that happen.

''We met with Montreal, and they didn't want to play either. We had a closed-door meeting. A lot of heartfelt things were said. We knew it wasn't right.''

Knight said that Barry Larkin and Eric Davis met with the two remaining umpires and told them the players' feelings.

''They told them they didn't want to play. They were relieved,'' Knight said.