Finally got the time and ability to do this job. It turns out the ball/socket was fine, albeit a little bored out, but I replaced it. The shaft bushing was the culprit, and had cracked into several pieces.
This was a very simple job, in all honesty. The issue that cost me the most time was trying to disassemble the controls in the center console while making sure not to breathe on the temperature probe for my AC system. I spent maybe an hour and a half on that, before realizing I had enough play to simply set the console on its side with the controls still in place.
Another area that people have cited as an issue is chewing up the interior O-ring in the shift box. After fiddling with it for a while, I realized the best way to keep it in place was to pop the plastic dual-plane piece partly into the shift box, then jam my pinky into the side to stabilize the O-ring while I fiddled the plastic piece the rest of the way into the box.
The funniest part was pulling what appeared to be two sex toys out of the mechanism. Everyone at my friend's shop had a good laugh at Hans leaving his c*ck ring in my car. I assume these were the elastics referenced in the factory bulletin about vibrations (not helping the sex toy reference at all here). I pulled one off the shaft, and one was hanging on the stick. Not sure when they broke; could have been years ago, or they might have let go when the shaft bushing disintegrated. I replaced both of them with zip ties.
My shift coupler was decent, but I had ordered the Jwest piece. Just didn't have enough time to replace it; will do so next time.
I was so frustrated with the center console that when I finally got it off, I forgot to mark where my shift box bolts were. After the fact, I simply tightened it in and ran the stick through the gears. I didn't have positive engagement on 2 and 4, so I adjusted the box back a bit. When I was satisfied with the engagement, I tightened everything back up.
I haven't driven one of these cars new, so I can't say it shifts like new. It certainly shifts more smoothly, and with less vibration overall. The most unexpected change was a smoother gear change. When I release the clutch, there's much less of a judder/stutter than there was, making driving much more of a pleasure and the whole process smoother.
I'd highly recommend this as a maintenance item, rather than waiting for the bushings to give out.
Thank you all for your input.