page_title: Umpire (baseball)
section_title: Most seasons
hierarchical_section_title: Umpire (baseball) / Famous umpires / Longest major league careers / Most seasons
caption_attribution_description: English: Baseball umpire in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: Careers beginning prior to 1920:
  37 – Bill Klem (NL, 1905–41)
  35 – Bob Emslie (AA, 1890; NL, 1891–1924)
  34 – Tommy Connolly (NL, 1898–1900; AL, 1901–31)
  30 – Hank O'Day (NL, 1895, 1897–1911, 1913, 1915–27)
  29 – Bill Dinneen (AL, 1909–37)
  29 – Cy Rigler (NL, 1906–22, 1924–35)
  25 – Brick Owens (NL, 1908, 1912–13; AL, 1916–37)
  25 – Ernie Quigley (NL, 1913–37)
  Careers beginning from 1920 to 1960:
  30 – Bill McGowan (AL, 1925–54)
  28 – Al Barlick (NL, 1940–43, 1946–55, 1958–71)
  27 – Bill Summers (AL, 1933–59)
  26 – Tom Gorman (NL, 1951–76)
  25 – Nestor Chylak (AL, 1954–78)
  25 – Jim Honochick (AL, 1949–73)
  Careers beginning since 1960:
  41 – Joe West (NL, 1976–99; MLB 2002–present), senior active Major League umpire as of 2019, and is recognized by MLB as having the longest tenure of any umpire in MLB history in terms of number of seasons umpired.
  37 – Bruce Froemming (NL, 1971–99; MLB, 2000–07), ejected New York Yankees manager Billy Martin from Game 4 of the 1976 World Series, made controversial ball four call which prevented Milt Pappas' perfect game in 1972
  35 – Jerry Crawford (NL, 1976–99; MLB, 2000–2010), son of NL umpire Shag Crawford (1951–75) and brother of National Basketball Association official Joey Crawford (1977–2016)
  35 – Joe Brinkman (AL, 1972–99; MLB, 2000–06) last active umpire to have used the balloon chest protector (Brinkman switched to the inside protector in 1980); former owner of umpire school; last active AL umpire to work prior to implementation of DH.
  35 – Ed Montague (NL, 1974, 1976–99; MLB, 2000–09) One of three umpires (Bill Klem and Bill Summers were the others) to serve as World Series crew chief four times
  35 – Gerry Davis (NL, 1982–1999, MLB 2000–present), owner of officials equipment store; has umpired more postseason games than any other umpire (134)
  35 – Dana DeMuth (NL, 1985–99, MLB 2000–2019), made (with Jim Joyce) game-ending obstruction call in Game 3 of the 2013 World Series
  34 – John Hirschbeck (AL, 1983–99, MLB 2000–2016), involved in infamous "spitting" incident with Roberto Alomar
  34 – Derryl Cousins (AL 1979–99; MLB 2000–2012) last remaining replacement called up during the 1979 umpire strike and last AL umpire to have worn the red blazer (1973–79)
  34 – Mike Reilly (AL, 1977–99, MLB 2000–2010)
  33 – Harry Wendelstedt (NL, 1966–98) The Wendelstedt family operates one of two MLB-approved umpire schools; son Hunter, currently an MLB umpire, took over after Harry's death in 2012.
  33 – Tim McClelland (AL, 1983–99, MLB 2000–2013), home plate umpire in Pine Tar Game and home plate umpire for David Wells' perfect game in 1998
  33 – Tim Welke (AL 1985–99, MLB 2000–2015), brother of umpire Bill Welke (1999–present), ejected Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox from Game 6 of the 1996 World Series
  31 – Dave Phillips (AL, 1971–1999; MLB, 2000–2002) He was the crew chief during the 1979 Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, ordering the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the second game of a scheduled doubleheader to the visiting Detroit Tigers. First umpire to throw Gaylord Perry out of a game for an illegal pitch (1982), threw out Albert Belle for a corked bat (1994)
  31 – Larry Barnett (AL, 1968–99) Made "no interference" call in Game 3 of the 1975 World Series
  31 – Doug Harvey (NL, 1962–92), home plate umpire in Game 1 of 1988 World Series, punctuated by dramatic pinch-hit home run by an injured Kirk Gibson
  30 – Dale Scott (AL, 1987–1999, MLB 2000–2017); Last umpire to eject New York Yankees manager Billy Martin from a game, first openly homosexual umpire
  30 - Jerry Layne (NL, 1989-1999, MLB 2000-present)
caption: A home plate umpire wearing his mask, c.1945
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