Bob Davidson (umpire)

Bob Davidson
Davidson umpiring a game at Camden Yards in April 2007
Born: (1952-08-03) August 3, 1952 (age 71) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
debut
May 31, 1982
Last appearance
October 2, 2016
Career highlights and awards
Special assignments All-Star Games (1987, 1993, 2014) League Championship Series (1988, 1991, 1996) World Series (1992) Division Series (1995, 1998, 2009) World Baseball Classic (2006)

Robert Allan Davidson (born August 3, 1952) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Balkin' Bob" and "Balk-a-Day Bob" for his tendency to liberally invoke baseball's balk rule, Davidson was an umpire on the National League (NL) staff from 1982 to 1999, and he was on the combined MLB umpiring staff from 2005 to 2016. He worked one World Series (1992) and several other postseason series.

A former baseball player at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), Davidson spent several years umpiring in the minor leagues before he was promoted to the NL in 1982. In 1999, he was one of nearly two dozen umpires to participate in a mass resignation that was intended as a union bargaining tactic. The maneuver backfired when baseball officials simply replaced those umpires. During four years away from professional baseball, Davidson hosted a sports radio show and worked as a college baseball umpire.

Davidson returned to minor-league umpiring in 2003. After prolonged negotiations and legal battles, baseball officials promoted Davidson back to the major leagues in 2007.