I would guess that the other end of the long rod, at the trans, should be no problem because it is hard mounted to a shaft so it should not wear. Other parts of the shifter at the trans could be worn however and need to be repaired to tighten things up. The front moves on the shaft that sticks out of the shifter and "footballs" as yours has. I had one that was so bad, the shifter was rubbing against the lip of the tunnel hole.
Removing the long shift rod is a pain and it will wear with use. Why not cut the end off and weld on a flat plate, drill and tap it to accept a heim joint fitting. You can use a jamb nut on the heim joint to be able to adjust the length to get it back to exactly where the hole is now. Of course, you might want to mark the shaft below where you will be working and measure to the center of the hole before you cut it off.
You can then replace the "footballed" shaft that is on the shifter with a bolt that has a smooth shoulder to go through the heim joint. That should never wear out and should remove all slop at that end of the system. While you are at it, replace the white cup that holds the bottom. Paragon has them.
Big Dog