Umpire Bob Davidson, a Duluthian known for his history of ejecting players and managers as well as for calling balks on pitchers, has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.
The 64-year-old Davidson, a Duluth East graduate and a former baseball player at Minnesota Duluth, was one of the game's more controversial umpires and wasn't afraid to toe the line and get into face-to-face arguments on the field before tossing his adversaries.
Davidson, whose major-league career began in 1982, was among several umpires who were dismissed after they resigned as past of a union bargaining tactic in 1999. He returned to the majors in 2007 after spending four years umpiring in the minors.
