Ted Barrett

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reverend Edward George "Ted" Barrett' (born July 31, 1965 in Pasco, Washington) is an umpire in Major League Baseball. He joined the American League's full-time staff in 1999, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000.

Barrett grew up in North Tonawanda, New York and Mountain View, California, and earned a 1988 degree in kinesiology at Cal State-Hayward where he was captain of the football team. Prior to pursuing umpiring, he was an amateur boxer. His professional umpiring career began after he attented the Joe Brinkman Umpire School in 1989, and he worked his way up to the Pacific Coast League for the 1993 season. He made his major league debut in 1994. For the next five seasons, Barrett served as a fill-in umpire for vacationing or injured major league umpires. Barrett was one of the 25 umpires promoted in the wake of the Major League Umpires Association's mass-resignation strategy in July 1999. His five years of experience made him one of the most experienced of the 25 umpires called up to fill the sudden vacancies.

He has worked in 5 postseasons, including the 2005 American League Championship Series and the Division Series in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006. He was the home plate umpire for David Cone's perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999, the only interleague no-hitter in regular-season history. He was also the plate umpire on August 7, 2004 for Greg Maddux's 300th win.

In the offseason, Barrett works as a substitute teacher. He is also heavily involved with Christian ministry, and has earned a master's degree in Biblical Studies from Trinity University where he is a Doctoral candidate.

For the 2006 season, Barrett has been assigned to Rick Reed's crew along with Tim Tschida and Laz Díaz.