Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.
He umpired 4,673 games, including five World Series, nine National League Championship Series, and six All-Star Games.
His father was a truck driver, ice hauler, and part-time baseball umpire.
He attended San Diego State University on a partial athletic scholarship, but dropped out. He was a minor-league umpire in the California League and the Pacific Coast League before getting called up to the National League in 1962.