Jim Evans, who was a fill-in for a handful of American League games in 1971, was named as O'Donnell's permanent replacement for the 1972 season. Evans went on to work nearly 28 seasons before he was forced out in 1999 by the failed mass resignation strategy of Major League Umpires Association President Richie Phillips, who coincidentally was a friend of O'Donnell's, as both lived in Philadelphia. Phillips was also the NBA Referee's Association President until he was forced out by Darell Garretson, with whom O'Donnell frequently clashed, in the 1980s.