Phil Cuzzi
Encyclopedia
Philip Cuzzi is a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
umpire
Umpire (baseball)
In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...
who initially worked in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
from 1991 to 1993 before returning to the NL in 1999; since 2000 he has worked throughout both major leagues. Cuzzi's fellow crew members are currently Ed Montague
Ed Montague (umpire)
Edward Michael "Ed" Montague is a former umpire in Major League Baseball. He worked in the National League in 1974 and from 1976 to 1999, and officiated throughout both leagues between 2000 and 2009. The most senior active umpire in the major leagues at the time of his retirement, he wore uniform...
(crew chief), Jerry Layne
Jerry Layne
Jerry Blake Layne is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the National League between 1989 and 1999, and throughout both major leagues since 2000...
, and Jim Wolf
Jim Wolf
James Michael Wolf is a Major League Baseball umpire. He joined the major league staff in 1999 after working in the Arizona Rookie League, the South Atlantic League, the California League, the Texas League and the Pacific Coast League. He wears uniform number 28...
.
2002-2003 Seasons
In 2003, Phil Cuzzi ejected Roy Halladay for hitting Rocco Baldelli with a pitch, in spite of this being the first hit batsman of the game and no arguments having transpired between the two teams earlier in the game. The ejection robbed Halladay of a chance to win a team-record 22nd game (a feat he later managed in his final start). A year earlier, Cuzzi was severely criticized by Blue Jays teammate Carlos Delgado for a game-ending called third strike, which Delgado alleged was "more than a foot outside." Delgado described Cuzzi as "amateurish" and said it was "the worst call I've seen in a long time."2009 ALDS
In Game 2 of the 2009 ALDS between the Yankees and TwinsTWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
, Cuzzi botched a call on what would have been a Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins. He is the only catcher in Major League history to win three batting titles...
ground rule double. With Melky Cabrera
Melky Cabrera
Melky Astacio Cabrera is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants.-Minors:Cabrera was signed by the New York Yankees on November 13, 2001, at age 17...
charging towards the foul line from left field, the ball tipped his glove, landed in fair territory, then bounced into the stands. Cuzzi called the ball foul. Many were outraged and used this blown call as a reason instant replay should be more widely used in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
.
2010 Season
June 27 - Phil Cuzzi Ejects James Loney After Game's OverJuly 18 - Phil Cuzzi confronted the Mets closer (Francisco Rodriguez) by waving his arms at him and waving his finger in the catcher's face. Later in that inning Phil Cuzzi blew a call, calling the Giants runner (Travis Ishikawa) out at home plate when the Mets catcher (Henry Blanco) conceded after the game that the runner was safe and he had not even tagged Ishikawa. That run would have allowed the Giants to win the game in regulation. Instead, the Giants subsequently lost in extra innings. After the game, Cuzzi said he had not seen a replay but felt Ishikawa’s foot came up off the plate. “I’ll look at it,” he said with a tone of resignation, “but I figured I’d eat first.”