Biography
Harold Douglas Harvey (born March 13, 1930, in South Gate, California) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball, who worked in the National League from 1962 through 1992. Noted for his authoritative command of baseball rules, he earned the tongue in cheek nickname "God" from players, and was among the last major league umpires who never attended an umpiring school. His career total of 4,673 games ranked third in major league history at his retirement, and he is only the ninth umpire to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 1999 the Society for American Baseball Research ranked Harvey as the second-greatest umpire in history, behind only Bill Klem. In 2007, Referee magazine selected him as one of the 52 most influential figures in the history of sports officiating. Harvey umpired in five World Series (1968, 1974, 1981, 1984 and 1988), serving as crew chief in 1984 and 1988, and in six All-Star Games (1963, 1964, 1971, 1977, 1982 and 1992), calling balls and strikes for the 1982 and 1992 games. He also set a record by officiating in the National League Championship Series nine times – 1970 (Games 2-3), 1972, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984 (Game 5), 1986, 1989 and 1991 – serving as crew chief for the last three; his record was later tied by Paul Runge, and broken by Bruce Froemming in 2000. Harvey was the home plate umpire for the single-game playoff to decide the NL's Western Division champion in 1980, between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Harvey
