Longtime umpire Dale Scott has decided to retire and it's due to his issues with concussions. Scott told the Associated Press in Orlando during the Winter Meetings Tuesday that he's done.

Scott has suffered concussions four times in the last five years, including one last April -- thanks to a Mark Trumbo foul ball off the mask -- that ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season. Instead of risking further damage to his brain, Scott says that he has decided to call it quits on a long and esteemed career of umpiring.

Scott, 58, first umpired in the majors in 1985. In his career, Scott umpired 91 postseason games, including three full World Series, and also three All-Star Games. He worked nearly 4,000 regular-season games. Long one of the most respected umpires, Scott was a crew chief for 16 seasons.

Perhaps the best compliment we can give Scott is that we never really talked about him all that much. If you don't notice an umpire, it's generally because he's doing a good job -- or, more specifically, not doing anything terrible.

Scott did make headlines in 2014 when he came out of the closet and became the first openly gay MLB umpire.

In light of his retirement, Scott does have concerns about concussion protocol with MLB umpires.

"That needs to be addressed," he said to the Associated Press. "Maybe my situation can be a catalyst for that."

We've been discussing the concussions of catchers taking foul balls off the mask -- here's a great feature from our own R.J. Anderson about MLB's battle to do better with head trauna -- but the umpires take lots of those as well.

Overall, though, kudos to Scott on a great career and for bringing light to an important health issue.