In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump. They are also sometimes addressed as blue at lower levels due to the common color of the uniform worn by umpires. In professional baseball, the term blue is seldom used by players or managers, who instead call the umpire by name. Although games were often officiated by a sole umpire in the formative years of the sport, since the turn of the 20th century, officiating has been commonly divided among several umpires, who form the umpiring crew. The position is analogous to that of a referee in many other sports.
Bruce Neal Froemming is Major League Baseball Special Assistant to the Vice President on Umpiring, after having served as an umpire in Major League Baseball. He first umpired in the National League in 1971, and from 2000 to 2007 worked throughout both major leagues. Early in the 2007 season, Froemming tied Bill Klem for the most seasons umpired. Previously, on August 16, 2006, Froemming umpired his 5,000th game between the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, making him the second umpire to reach that milestone; Klem retired after 5,374 games. Froemming now stands third on the all-time list of games umpired, having been passed when Joe West officiated his 5,164th Major League Baseball game on August 14, 2019. On April 20, 2007, he umpired at first base in the Cleveland Indians-Tampa Bay Devil Rays game, passing Klem to become – at age 67 years 204 days – the man then believed to be the oldest umpire in major league history; Hank O'Day holds the record, retiring at 68 years, 2 months. He worked his final regular-season game at age 68 years 2 days on September 30, 2007, when Froemming received a standing ovation before umpiring his last regular-season game, manning the third base position as the Milwaukee Brewers hosted the San Diego Padres at Miller Park in his native Milwaukee, with much of his family in attendance. Because Froemming was then over age 65, he became eligible for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 instead of having to wait the customary five years.
Gerald Sidney Davis is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball. He worked in the National League from 1982 to 1999 and in Major League Baseball from 2000 to 2021. He was promoted to crew chief in 1999. Davis umpired five World Series, nine League Championship Series and eleven League Division Series. He also worked in the All-Star Game four times. Davis wore uniform number 12 throughout his career.
Gary Richard Darling is a former umpire in Major League Baseball. After beginning his career in the National League from 1986 to 1999, he worked throughout both major leagues from 2002 until his retirement in 2014. He wore uniform number 37.
Jeffrey Brian Nelson is an American professional baseball umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB), who was named to the National League (NL) staff prior to the 1999 season, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000.
Douglas Leon Eddings is an American professional umpire in Major League Baseball.
Joseph Henry West, nicknamed "Cowboy Joe" or "Country Joe", is an American former baseball umpire. He worked in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 to 2021, umpiring an MLB-record 43 seasons and 5,460 games.
Jerry Blake Layne is an American umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the National League between 1989 and 1999, and throughout both major leagues since 2000. He wore uniform number 24 in the NL, but when MLB merged the AL and NL umpiring staffs in 2000, Layne was forced to switch to number 26, as AL umpire Al Clark, who also wore 24, had more seniority. When Clark was fired midway through the 2001 season by MLB, Layne reclaimed number 24 and has worn it ever since. With the retirements of Joe West and Gerry Davis in 2022, Layne became MLB's most senior active umpire.
Ángel Hernández is a Cuban-American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). He worked in the National League from 1991 to 1999, and has worked throughout MLB since 2000.
John Francis Hirschbeck is a former umpire for Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1984 to 1999 and worked in both leagues from 2000 to 2016. He was a crew chief at the time of his retirement, and wore uniform number 17 throughout his career. Hirschbeck announced his retirement following the 2016 season. In 2000, Hirschbeck was elected as the first president of the newly certified World Umpires Association, a position he held until 2009.
Thomas David Gorman was an American pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball who pitched five innings in four games with the New York Giants in 1939, and went on to serve as a National League umpire from 1951 to 1976, then as a league supervisor. His son Brian has been a major league umpire since 1991 and wears the same uniform number 9 the elder Gorman wore after the NL began adding numbers to umpire uniforms in 1970.
Edward George Barrett is an American retired Major League Baseball umpire. He joined the American League's staff in 1994, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. Promoted to crew chief in 2013, Barrett worked in 33 play-off series, including five World Series. He retired following the 2022 season.
Daniel Ralph Iassogna is an American umpire in Major League Baseball. He joined the major league staff in 1999. In 2012, Iassogna worked his first World Series. He was promoted to crew chief for the 2020 season.
Brian Edward Runge is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League in 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 to 2012; he wore uniform number 18, and previously 71.
Harry Hunter Wendelstedt III is an American baseball umpire who has worked in the National League in 1998–1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2000. His father Harry Hunter Wendelstedt, Jr. was an NL umpire from 1966 to 1998. Hunter Wendelstedt goes by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father.
Alfonso Márquez is a Mexican umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the National League in 1999 and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. He was promoted to crew chief for the 2020 season, becoming the first full time Latino-born crew chief. Márquez wears uniform number 72, a number he shared with friend and National Hockey League linesman Stéphane Provost.
Philip Cuzzi is an American professional baseball umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). He worked as a reserve umpire in the National League (NL) from 1991 to 1993 and returned to the NL in 1999. Since 2000, he has worked in both major leagues. Cuzzi wore number 99 when his career started; he now wears number 10.
Fieldin Henry Culbreth III is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). He worked in the American League from 1993 to 1999 and in both major leagues from 2000 until his retirement in 2021. Culbreth was promoted to crew chief prior to the 2013 season. Culbreth wore number 42 while he was an American League umpire, then changed to 25 in 2000 after the MLB umpires were unified into one crew.
Thomas Francis Hallion is a retired Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League (NL) from 1985 to 1999 and in both major leagues from 2005 until 2022. He was promoted to crew chief in 2010. Hallion has worn number 20 during his MLB career. He resigned from the NL in 1999 as part of a failed mass bargaining strategy, but he was rehired by MLB before the 2005 season.
Christopher Gene Guccione is an American umpire in Major League Baseball. He wears number 68.
