When Doug Harvey retired in 1992, he was the longest serving umpire since Bill Klem. Harvey began his career in the California League in 1958. He worked in the Pacific Coast League in 1961 before being called up to the majors.

During his major league career, Harvey worked over 4,500 National League games. He was in nine League Championship Series, five World Series, and six All-Star Games. He was the home plate umpire at the 1982 game and in 1992, an honor for his 31 seasons as an umpire. He gained the nickname "God" as a result of his actions on the field. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of the game.

In 1997, throat cancer caused by smokeless tobacco turned Harvey into an active campaigner against the substance. Since then, he has given hundreds of talks about the dangers of chew.

Doug Harvey led the composite ballot in the 2007 Veterans Committee election to the Hall of Fame but he fell short of the required 75% for election. He was elected to the Hall on December 7, 2009, receiving 15 of 16 votes and was inducted in 2010. He was the first umpire inducted in 11 years, since Nestor Chylak in 1999.

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, afterward returning 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. He 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).

Other notable games

Among the notable games in which Harvey worked was the final game of the 1972 season in which Roberto Clemente collected his 3,000th (and last) base hit off of the New York Mets' Jon Matlack. He was the home plate umpire on September 10, 1963, when brothers Jesus, Matty and Felipe Alou batted consecutively for the San Francisco Giants,^[14] and also on June 3, 1987, when the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs hit a combined three grand slams at Wrigley Field.

Harvey regarded his greatest contribution to baseball as being the introduction of a new sense of timing to umpiring; he noted that when he arrived in the major leagues, the emphasis was on making calls quickly and decisively, and said, "Everything was called too quickly. I've got a photograph of Jocko Conlan working first base. Jocko's arm was extended in the out call. But the runner was still short of the bag, and the ball was still in flight. In those days it was common to anticipate the call." Harvey, however, changed attitudes by insisting that it was better to delay the call and make sure it was correct.

Diagnosed with oral cancer

In August 1997, Harvey was diagnosed with oral cancer, which was attributed to his longtime use of chewing tobacco. He has since become active in speaking to ballplayers and students about the dangers of tobacco use. He no longer uses the product that caused him to develop oral cancer.

Hall of Fame

In both 2003 and 2007, Harvey was the leading candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame in voting by Hall members on the Veterans Committee composite ballot for managers, umpires and executives; however, his totals of 48 and 52 votes in the two elections fell short of the 60 and 62 necessary for election. Under new rules established by the Hall in 2007, he was again eligible for election in 2008, but fell one vote short of the required 12 votes. On July 25, 2010, he was finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On December 7, 2009, Harvey was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Hall of Fame Veterans' Committee and was inducted on July 25, 2010.

From Retro Sheet:

Doug Harvey

                           Umpiring Record
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF
1962 NL Daily     159   41   41   37   40    0    0 
1963 NL Daily     162   41   40   41   40    0    0 
1964 NL Daily     164   40   39   45   40    0    0 
1965 NL Daily     164   41   42   40   41    0    0 
1966 NL Daily     165   41   42   40   42    0    0 
1967 NL Daily     162   41   42   41   38    0    0 
1968 NL Daily     163   40   40   40   40    3    0 
1969 NL Daily     156   40   39   38   39    0    0 
1970 NL Daily     163   40   42   39   42    0    0 
1971 NL Daily     169   41   43   43   42    0    0 
1972 NL Daily     158   40   42   38   38    0    0 
1973 NL Daily     154   37   42   39   36    0    0 
1974 NL Daily     167   45   43   37   42    0    0 
1975 NL Daily     168   42   42   39   45    0    0 
1976 NL Daily     162   42   40   41   39    0    0 
1977 NL Daily     156   42   39   39   36    0    0 
1978 NL Daily     161   42   42   37   40    0    0 
1979 NL Daily     108   28   31   23   26    0    0 
1980 NL Daily     147   39   40   27   41    0    0 
1981 NL Daily      99   26   22   25   26    0    0 
1982 NL Daily     146   37   37   36   36    0    0 
1983 NL Daily     155   39   40   38   38    0    0 
1984 NL Daily     145   38   37   33   37    0    0 
1985 NL Daily     145   37   38   34   36    0    0 
1986 NL Daily     152   39   39   37   37    0    0 
1987 NL Daily     149   38   37   36   38    0    0 
1988 NL Daily     149   37   38   37   37    0    0 
1989 NL Daily     145   37   35   36   37    0    0 
1990 NL Daily     146   37   37   37   35    0    0 
1991 NL Daily     139   35   36   34   34    0    0 
1992 NL Daily      95   23   24   24   24    0    0 
Total (31 Years) 4673 1186 1191 1131 1162    3    0 
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF

League Championship Series Umpiring Record
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF
1970 NL Daily       2    0    1    1    0    0    0 
1972 NL Daily       5    1    1    1    0    1    1 
1976 NL Daily       3    0    0    1    1    1    0 
1980 NL Daily       5    1    1    1    1    0    1 
1983 NL Daily       4    0    1    1    1    1    0 
1984 NL Daily       1    0    0    0    1    0    0 
1986 NL Daily       6    1    1    1    1    1    1 
1989 NL Daily       5    1    0    1    1    1    1 
1991 NL Daily       7    2    1    1    1    1    1 
Total ( 9 Years)   38    6    6    8    7    6    5 
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF

              World Series Umpiring Record
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF
1968 ML Daily       7    1    1    1    1    2    1 
1974 ML Daily       5    1    1    1    0    1    1 
1981 ML Daily       6    1    1    1    1    1    1 
1984 ML Daily       5    1    0    1    1    1    1 
1988 ML Daily       5    1    0    1    1    1    1 
Total ( 5 Years)   28    5    3    5    4    6    5 
Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF

All-Star Game Umpiring Record Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF 1963 ML Daily 1    0    0    0    0    0    1  1964 ML Daily 1    0    0    0    0    1    0  1971 ML Daily 1    0    0    0    1    0    0  1977 ML Daily 1    0    1    0    0    0    0  1982 ML Daily 1    1    0    0    0    0    0  1992 ML Daily 1    1    0    0    0    0    0  Total ( 6 Years)    6    2    1    0    1    1    1  Year LG             G   HP   1B   2B   3B   LF   RF

This biography was put together with information from:
Wikipedia, Retrosheet and Baseball Reference