Doug Harvey (umpire) - Career History

Career History

Harvey began officiating local basketball games at the high school level at age 16, later umpiring softball and baseball. He attended San Diego State College in 1955-56, where he played baseball and football. He then returned to umpiring in the minor leagues while also officiating college basketball and football games. He remained a resident of San Diego throughout his umpiring career. He umpired in the California League from 1958 to 1960, and in the Pacific Coast League in 1961. He married Joy Ann Glascock on September 24, 1960, and the couple had two sons, Scott and Todd. Upon reaching the majors on April 10, 1962, his greatest influences were umpires Al Barlick, Jocko Conlan and Shag Crawford, each of whom gave him invaluable advice in developing his skills – Barlick for his renowned mastery of the rules, Conlan for helping him appreciate the fun of umpiring, and Crawford for his tremendous work ethic.

Harvey was easily recognizable due to his thick white hair, which had already gone completely gray when he was in his 30s, leading to the early nickname of "Silver," and in 1971 he grew a handlebar mustache, at a time when no major league field personnel had worn facial hair since the 1940s; he kept it trimmed to the edges of his mouth, and he wore it for one season. In the latter part of his career, Harvey became known for appearing in the "You Make the Call" segments on the televised Game of the Week.

In 1974, the Players Association conducted polls of players in both leagues to identify and rank the best umpires (the New York Mets did not participate); Harvey was named the top NL umpire, being the only official in the league rated as "excellent." In 1987, a Sports Illustrated poll of NL catchers ranked him as the third best umpire in the league for calling balls and strikes, with one voter saying he "still cares about doing the best possible job." In 1990, Sport magazine named him the best umpire in the game, citing his unbending application of the rules and noting his campaign to enforce the balk rule two seasons earlier, when he said, "Give me 10 high school pitchers, let me spend a week with them, and I'll show you 10 pitchers who won't balk. It's not that difficult. So they better learn it."

Harvey's goal of umpiring until age 65 ended on October 4, 1992, at age 62, when knee problems necessitated his retirement. He nonetheless became the first NL umpire since Bill Klem to work for more than 30 years, finishing with 31 years in the major leagues; his 4,673 games then ranked third in major league history behind Klem (5,374) and Tommy Connolly (4,769).