Bob Davidson (umpire)
| Bob Davidson | |
|---|---|
Davidson umpiring a game at Camden Yards in April 2007
|
|
| Born |
August 3, 1952 Chicago, Illinois |
| MLB debut | May 31, 1982 |
| Crew members | |
|
|
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
Special assignments
|
|
Robert Allan Davidson (born August 3, 1952) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Balkin' Bob" for his tendency to liberally invoke baseball's balk rule, Davidson was an umpire on the National League (NL) staff from 1982 to 1999, and he was on the combined MLB umpiring staff from 2007 to 2016. He worked one World Series (1992) and several other postseason series.
A former baseball player at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), Davidson spent several years umpiring in the minor leagues before he was promoted to the NL in 1982. In 1999, he was one of nearly two dozen umpires to participate in a mass resignation that was intended as a union bargaining tactic. The maneuver backfired when baseball officials simply replaced those umpires. During four years away from professional baseball, Davidson hosted a sports radio show and worked as a college baseball umpire.
Davidson returned to minor-league umpiring in 2003. After prolonged negotiations and legal battles, baseball officials promoted Davidson back to the major leagues in 2007.
After graduating from Duluth East High School in Duluth, Minnesota, Davidson played baseball at the University of Minnesota Duluth. In the mid-1970s, Davidson went to umpiring school in St. Petersburg, Florida, with a friend and former Duluth East and UMD baseball teammate. Davidson graduated at the top of his class at the umpire academy, and he was given an assignment in the minor leagues.
Davidson spent eight years as a minor-league umpire, and his assignments included the Midwest League, Florida State League, Southern League and the American Association. He also umpired in the Florida Instructional League and in a winter league in the Dominican Republic during those years.
...
Wikipedia