Robert Allan Davidson (born August 3, 1952) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB).

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.

After prolonged negotiations and legal battles, baseball officials promoted Davidson back to the major leagues in 2007.

In the mid-1970s, Davidson went to umpiring school in St. Petersburg, Florida, with a friend and former Duluth East and UMD baseball teammate.

Davidson graduated at the top of his class at the umpire academy, and he was given an assignment in the minor leagues.

Nicknamed "Balkin' Bob" or "Balk-a-day-Bob" due to his frequent balk calls,[2] Davidson was voted by players and managers as one of the worst umpires in MLB, placing fourth-worst in a Sports Illustrated poll in 2011.

Reflecting on the resignations several years later, Davidson criticized the move orchestrated by umpire union executive Richie Phillips, saying, "I went from being cocky, to just being plain dumb, to realizing I'm lucky I have a job.

[5] In 2000, MLB officials negotiated with the dismissed umpires, agreeing to give Davidson and nine others their jobs back.

[9] That year, Aaron Gleeman of NBC Sports wrote that Davidson was "one of the worst and definitely the most confrontational umpire in baseball.

"[10] On May 15, 2012, during a game in Philadelphia, Davidson and Phillies' catcher Brian Schneider bumped into each other during a play involving a strike three wild pitch.

Three days later, MLB suspended Davidson from umpiring one game because of "repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner's standards for situation handling".