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.
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is the labor union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club are eligible for membership in the Association.
In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker.
Marvin Julian Miller was an American labor union leader and baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Miller led MLBPA during three strikes and two lockouts. Under Miller's direction, the players' union was transformed into one of the strongest unions in the United States.
QuesTec was a digital media company that pioneered virtual replay from real-time measurement data for baseball and tennis. Years before competitors introduced similar products, QuesTec had established a reputation for accuracy and reliability. Although originally based on internally developed technology, in 1998 QuesTec moved to tracking technology provided by engineers at the Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corporation led by project manager and group director Paul Baim. QuesTec is best known for its Umpire Information System (UIS), used by Major League Baseball for the purpose of providing feedback and evaluation of Major League umpires.
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.
Derryl Cousins was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB), who worked in the American League (AL) from 1979 to 1999, and umpired throughout both leagues from 2000 until his retirement following the 2012 season, ending his career as a crew chief.
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.
Robert Allan Davidson is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Balkin' Bob" and "Balk-a-Day 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 2005 to 2016. He worked one World Series (1992) and several other postseason series.
Gerald Joseph Crawford is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball. He first umpired in the National League from 1977 to 1999, then worked in both major leagues from 2000 to 2010.
James Alfred Joyce III is an American former professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League (AL) from 1987 to 1999 and throughout Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000 to 2016. He wore uniform number 6 while in the AL and number 66 for MLB. His loud and enthusiastic strike call drew comparisons to that of retired umpire Bruce Froemming. Though his umpiring was generally praised by players and coaches, Joyce is best known for his incorrect call in Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game in June 2010.
The most recent umpire strike in Minor League Baseball history was the strike of 2006. It involved primarily a monetary dispute between the Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU), a trade union, and the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation (PBUC), a management company. The dispute resulted in the hiring of replacement umpires for a number of games, followed by minor concessions by both parties, resulting in a slight wage increase for umpires employed in Minor League Baseball.
Major League Baseball (MLB) uses instant replay review to allow league officials to review certain types of plays in order to determine the accuracy of the initial call of the umpires on the field. Reviews may be initiated either by a team's manager with limitations or by the umpires themselves. All instant replay reviews are examined by umpires at the Replay Command Center in New York City, who have the final decision as to whether to uphold or overturn the initial call.
The Major League Umpires Association (MLUA) was a union for the umpires of both the American League and the National League. It was formed in 1970. It was decertified and replaced by the World Umpires Association, which became the bargaining agent for MLB umpires before the 2000 season.
The 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation was a labor tactic used by 68 Major League Baseball (MLB) umpires, including 66 members of the Major League Umpires Association (MLUA), the official umpires union at the time. Unable to strike because they had a labor agreement in place at the time, 57 umpires formally resigned by orchestrated letters in an attempt to force negotiations with MLB for a new labor agreement. The American and National Leagues instead immediately hired new umpires and accepted 22 of the resignations. The union membership became fractured on the issue, and the umpires tried to rescind their resignations, but the MLUA was unsuccessful in retaining the jobs of the 22 umpires and the resignations were seen as final. The incident led to the decertification of the MLUA and the formation of a new union, the World Umpires Association (WUA), now the Major League Baseball Umpires Association.
Mark Hirschbeck is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1987 to 1999, and both Major Leagues from 2000 until his retirement in 2003. He wore uniform number 4 throughout his NL career, but changed to 20 when the umpiring staffs unified in 2000. His brother John is also a major league umpire, making the Hirschbecks the first pair of brothers to umpire in the Major Leagues at the same time.
The 1979 Major League Umpires Association Strike was a labor action by the Major League Umpires Association (MLUA) against Major League Baseball (MLB) that lasted from March until mid-May, 1979.
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), including teams affiliated with MLB clubs.
Patrick Hoberg is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire.
Gabriel Morales is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire.
