What exactly makes an umpire or referee HOF (and even number retirement!) worthy?

Estil

For those who don't know, three of the four major American sports HOF's (MLB, NBA, NHL) have umpires/referees in their respective HOF. Here is a list of MLB umpires who made the HOF and/or had their number retired:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umpire_(baseball)#Hall_of_Fame

What I've always been curious about though is what exactly makes an umpire/referee HOF worthy? As you can see here, longevity is apparently not enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_umpiring_records

mrmopar

Good question and i'd be curious to know as well. Joe West would seem to be an obvious choice, strictly from longevity alone, but as you pointed out, that isn't a factor.

miwlvrn

The inclusion of the referees and linesmen in the 1990 Pro Set hockey set was a fun nod to the guys among the group referenced in your OP.

Estil

@miwlvrn said:
The inclusion of the referees and linesmen in the 1990 Pro Set hockey set was a fun nod to the guys among the group referenced in your OP.

And don't forget the umps in the 1955 Bowman set and those two other sets for the umps I think around 1989/1990 or so? I know you often hear tons of complaints about them and making bad calls and whatnot but hey, if it weren't for the boys in black and/or blue our baseball games would be anarchy! And we certainly wouldn't want our National Pastime to become nothing more than a Calvinball mess now would we?

ScoobyDoo2

A reliable deodorant ... hands down.

mrmopar

I don't know how I would have felt about umpire cards as a kid. I probably wouldn't have liked them a lot and they might have sat with my checklists. Now though, as my collecting interests have matured, I really love the fact that Topps does the archives, Heritage, Opening Day and other set autos and has introduced a number of baseball related characters, but not just players and coaches/managers. Announcers, GMs, Mascots, Umpires, etc. I actually look forward to the Archives set specifically each year for which Dodgers and former Dodgers (in a different uniform) are included, but also which non-players make the cut. This year was mostly disappointing, but some great stuff from past years.

Probably the first Ump card I owned was the slightly oversized Doug Harvey from the 1984 Smokey Bear Padres set.

Estil

So Joe West and Angel Hernandez recently retired and would have the longevity part down...though I reckon at least from their rep they're more like Hall of Shame contenders!!

82FootballWaxMemorys

@Estil said:
So Joe West and Angel Hernandez recently retired and would have the longevity part down...though I reckon at least from their rep they're more like Hall of Shame contenders!!

Both of them made calls as if they had bets on every play.

craig44

resurrected from the dead after 2 years!

ElMagoStrikeZone

You would need to be Hunter Wendelstedt so you could be universally despised.

bgr

It is difficult for me to consider the argument that umpires, who's role is to implement the rules of the game, have had a significant impact on the game individually. If they do their job well, fans don't know who they are. I'm not sure notoriety is what the award is for. I could see having something in the Halls which teaches visitors about the role of umpires, referees, and officials over the years, selecting some defining events to illustrate the impact on the game.

BLUEJAYWAY

Few years ago I read Doug Harvey's biography. Good read in the life of a MLB umpire.

Estil

@bgr said:
It is difficult for me to consider the argument that umpires, who's role is to implement the rules of the game, have had a significant impact on the game individually. If they do their job well, fans don't know who they are.

All the more reason why I'm curious as to how MLB/NBA/NFL Halls of Fame have umpires/referees enshrined (for some reason NFL has none) and what exactly makes one HOF worthy? I mean the earlier umpires is pretty obvious but what about the more recent ones? "Fans don't know who they are" is what makes a good or even excellent official...but what exactly pushes them into truly best of the best and thus HOF material?

tulsaboy

I think that in the modern era, at least in baseball, we will now have some actual metrics by which truly "great" umpires might be judged. The ball/strike calls are being monitored pitch by pitch, and umpires are getting "scores" based on the percent right they get throughout a game. Other calls are evaluated almost immediately via instant replay, which again allows for a relatively impartial evaluation of umpires' abilities to correctly make calls on the field. I would think that such metrics might play a role moving forward, along with overall impressions of players, managers and coaches about umpires' demeanor, ability to defuse difficult situations, success in keeping games moving efficiently, and simple management of the game. All of those factors, at least in baseball, could potentially assist in evaluating who the truly "great" umpires are.
kevin

Estil

@tulsaboy said:
I think that in the modern era, at least in baseball, we will now have some actual metrics by which truly "great" umpires might be judged. The ball/strike calls are being monitored pitch by pitch, and umpires are getting "scores" based on the percent right they get throughout a game. Other calls are evaluated almost immediately via instant replay, which again allows for a relatively impartial evaluation of umpires' abilities to correctly make calls on the field. I would think that such metrics might play a role moving forward, along with overall impressions of players, managers and coaches about umpires' demeanor, ability to defuse difficult situations, success in keeping games moving efficiently, and simple management of the game. All of those factors, at least in baseball, could potentially assist in evaluating who the truly "great" umpires are.
kevin

I don't think there's anyway that those can be "backwards compatible" (you know, to use on past umpires/eras) like all those newer weird stats like WAR and ERA+ or whatnot.

tulsaboy

@Estil said:

@tulsaboy said:
I think that in the modern era, at least in baseball, we will now have some actual metrics by which truly "great" umpires might be judged. The ball/strike calls are being monitored pitch by pitch, and umpires are getting "scores" based on the percent right they get throughout a game. Other calls are evaluated almost immediately via instant replay, which again allows for a relatively impartial evaluation of umpires' abilities to correctly make calls on the field. I would think that such metrics might play a role moving forward, along with overall impressions of players, managers and coaches about umpires' demeanor, ability to defuse difficult situations, success in keeping games moving efficiently, and simple management of the game. All of those factors, at least in baseball, could potentially assist in evaluating who the truly "great" umpires are.
kevin

I don't think there's anyway that those can be "backwards compatible" (you know, to use on past umpires/eras) like all those newer weird stats like WAR and ERA+ or whatnot.

I agree. I was just thinking about how some of the new tools being used in the modern game might be of some worth moving forward. In terms of looking backwards, I agree that the new tools are useless.
kevin

RonSportscards

Not style points apparently, because Dutch Rennert would be in already.
Kevin Mitchell is like....."Bro." LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbFaltAkKmY

Estil

Did you guys know that in 1989 and 1990 they had sets of umpire trading cards? Well this is the guy who was card #1 in both sets and sure enough in 2010 he got the Call to the Hall!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Harvey_(umpire)
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/harvey-doug

Estil

And the tenth and so far last umpire to be inducted is especially interesting as he didn't get inducted until almost as many years after his death as the number of years he was alive, if that makes sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_O'Day
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/oday-hank