We will miss you, Mark.

The 67th annual Old Timers Baseball Association of Will County banquet is on tap Thursday night at the Clarion Hotel, with Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog the guest speaker.

Major league umpire Mark Carlson, a Joliet native and Joliet West graduate, was a regular at the annual Old Timers banquet when he lived here. But he and his wife, Marie, along with their daughters, Grace and Audrey, moved to Tampa, Florida, four years ago, so we no longer are graced with his presence – at least not on a regular basis.

We still are good on the umpiring front, however, as longtime American League umpire and Lockport native Bill Haller is planning to be here Thursday.

“Tell everybody there that I said hi,” Carlson said during our Tuesday conversation. “I always enjoyed the Old Timers banquet.”

Carlson, who at one time wrote a weekly “Ask The Ump” column for The Herald-News, is coming off a season where was able to check off an all-important box. After working the National League Division Series between the Cubs and Cardinals last fall, he was assigned to the World Series between the Royals and Mets. He was behind the plate for Game 2.

“I’ve always set goals along the way, short-term and long-term,” said Carlson, who made his major league debut in 1999 and is entering his 17th big league season. “I’ve checked quite a few boxes along the way.

“This postseason will go down as a lifelong memory. The World Series is always something you shoot for. Another lasting memory was a couple years ago, when I worked the opening series in Australia between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.”

Carlson graduated in 1987 from Joliet West, where he caught future major league pitcher Steve Parris, among others. He continued his catching career at Parkland College in Champaign. In fact, he will be inducted next month into the Parkland Athletic Hall of Fame.

After junior college, he spent a year in the Marine Corps, then began pursuit of a career in umpiring. He worked in the Pioneer, Midwest, Florida State, Southern, International and Arizona Fall leagues before getting the call to the big leagues.

“The minors can be a difficult road,” Carlson said. “There are lots of ups and downs. Sometimes, you have to battle through situations that could defeat your attitude.”

Carlson stayed the course. Now, his résumé shows he has worked five Division Series, League Championship series in 2013 and 2014 and the World Series last fall.

“The World Series is the same game, but it has more focus because it’s the only game going on at the time,” Carlson said. “The eyes of all the fans and all the media are on you, so the pressure is on to do the job you know how to do.”

No less an authority than Haller, who worked four World Series in his illustrious career, spoke at the quarterly meeting of the Old Timers in December and said Carlson is doing an excellent job and deserved the World Series assignment.

Even in the Fall Classic, however, things are different from how they were when Carlson broke in. A form of instant replay began in 2008, and the current system where managers can challenge a call was instituted in 2014.

Carlson’s thoughts?

“Replay is a part of the game now,” he said. “It’s here to stay. The way I look at it, if it prevents me from being put in a situation where I’m known for getting something wrong, it’s appropriate. If it can prevent a situation where I have a play named after me, that’s a good thing.”

A technical advance that began years ago is the strike zone box on television.

“The TV box is for entertainment only,” Carlson said. “It’s not always exact. We umpires have an accurate system that evaluates us in regard to our strike zone. That’s what matters.”

Carlson has scored well in regard to his strike zone, which is among the reasons he was tabbed for World Series duty last fall.

Another box he would like to check is that of being a crew chief. That’s not easy, however, because of the availability of positions.

“A lot of things go into it, and availability is No. 1,” Carlson said. “There are not many spots ever available. It’s a goal to be a crew chief, but it’s not here yet. Regardless, umpiring is a great job.”

As he was last year, Brian Gorman again will be the crew chief on Carlson’s crew. Mike DiMuro also is back. Quinn Wolcott is new to the crew.

Each umpiring crew has four one-week breaks during the season that are built into the schedule. The umpires do not have a say in when those breaks occur.

“Schedules are bid by the crew chiefs based on their seniority,” Carlson said. “It works out fairly evenly on how often you see the different cities.

“It’s always nice to be near home, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”

Carlson lives in Tampa these days, but his roots are in Joliet. As Haller said, our community should be proud of the work he is doing.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.