Doug Harvey

[SavoyBG]

I can't believe that Doug Harvey has not been elected yet. He was clearly the best umpire of his day. There hasn't been any umpire elected from the modern era.

The teams requested that the crew did not rotate after game 162 of the 1980 season (Dodgers-Astros), because they wanted him to stay behind the plate for the one game playoff the next day.

He fell one vote short of the 12 votes required to get elected last time, and may not live to see his election now, if it ever happens. It was farce that Bowie Kuhn was elected, but not Harvey. It was also a farce that Kuhn went in, but not Marvin Miller.

From Wikipedia:

Harold Douglas Harvey (born March 13, 1930 in South Gate, California) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1962 to 1992. Noted for his authoritative command of baseball rules, he earned the tongue in cheek nickname "God" from players, and was among the last major league umpires who never attended an umpiring school. His career total of 4,670 games ranked third in major league history when he retired. In 1999 the Society for American Baseball Research ranked Harvey as the second greatest umpire in history, behind only Bill Klem.[1][2] In 2007, Referee magazine selected him as one of the 52 most influential figures in the history of sports officiating.[3]

Harvey umpired in five World Series (1968, 1974, 1981, 1984 and 1988), serving as crew chief in 1984 and 1988, and in six All-Star Games (1963, 1964, 1971, 1977, 1982 and 1992), calling balls and strikes for the 1982 and 1992 games. He also set a record by officiating in the National League Championship Series nine times – 1970 (Games 2-3), 1972, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984 (Game 5), 1986, 1989 and 1991 – serving as crew chief for the last three; his record was later tied by Paul Runge, and broken by Bruce Froemming in 2000. Harvey was the home plate umpire for the single-game playoff to decide the NL's Western Division champion in 1980, between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(I wonder if Bruce Froeming will get elected?)

[Los Bravos]

It was farce that Bowie Kuhn was elected, but not Harvey. It was also a farce that Kuhn went in, but not Marvin MillerHear, hear :applaud:

Doug and maybe Dutch Rennert are the only Umpires that have the universal level of respect necessary to make the cut.

[Homestead Gray]

I can't believe that Doug Harvey has not been elected yet. He was clearly the best umpire of his day. There hasn't been any umpire elected from the modern era.
(I wonder if Bruce Froeming will get elected?)

I was reading your post and thought immediately of Froeming as well. There were two umpires that you had jog your memory to remember that there were actually umpires at the game and to me it was these two. I think that there is no a bigger compliment to an umpire than to be forgotten during the game. I pay my money to see the ball players win or lose a game not the umpires. It was, however, good to see that they both had the ability to step forward and gain control of the game if it was getting out of hand.

Good post