And yet Joe West lives on ...

[Frayed Knot]

MLB has announced the retirements of four long-time umpires: John Hirschbeck, Bob Davidson, Jim Joyce, and Tim Welke

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Adam Hamari, Pat Hoberg, Gabe Morales and Carlos Torres promoted to full-timers.

All have been part-time MLBers previously. Hoberg is youngest at age 30.

Torres is the first MLB ump from Venezuela.

[Frayed Knot]

So I guess with no Hirschbeck going forward the game will have less spitting (see Alomar, Robbie), without Joyce's voice there'll be less noise at the park, without Davison fewer balks, and without Tim Welke MLB will be forced to soldier on with fewer Welkes (his brother Bill remains active).

[MFS62]

A day with Joe West or Angel Hernandez is like a day without sunshine.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Welke doesn't seem that old. I check the record and he's 59. (OE: I see whereas he has undergone two knee replacements.)

He retires as the last ump to toss a manager from a World Series game (Bobby Cox, 1996).

[Guest 41Forever]

Jim Joyce was the umpire who botched Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game.

That was a tremendous shame. But I'll always remember how he owned up to the mistake and the emotional response the next day when fans gave both Joyce and Galarraga an ovation.

Tigers fans might not be the Best Fans In Baseball ™, but they're pretty good fans.

[Frayed Knot]

We've also got to be getting down to the last few active umpires that were part of the failed labor negotiation tactic of the mass resignation back in 1999.
Hirschbeck and Davidson were both part of that group so their MLB careers were long but not uninterrupted.
Joe West took part in that too and he's still active, but then again I suspect West was umping games when Lindbergh was taking off on his flight.

[Edgy MD]

Trivia question: Of the 10 umps inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, only one has suited up post 1978. Name that ump.

[Guest 86-Dreamer]

Doug Harvey?

[Edgy MD]

Doug Harvey—who retired after the 1992 season, and was inducted 18 years later—it is.

The only subsequent induction of an ump was for Pre-Integration Committee selectee Hank O'Day, who umped from 1895 to 1927, and who was a decent pitcher before strapping on the chest protector, and ultimately appearing in 10 World Series.

I'm sort of getting the idea the HoF is moving away from perhaps seriously considering the induction of any further umps. But I sure don't think the place would be ruined by the company of Bruce Froemming, Dutch Rennert, Joe West, or Frank Drebin. Froemming umped more games than anybody in history, for Pete's sake. He probably did something right.