Phil Cuzzi
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Philip Cuzzi (born August 29, 1955 in Newark, New Jersey) is an umpire in Major League Baseball who initially worked in the National League from 1991-93 before returning to the NL in 1999; since 2000 he has worked throughout both major leagues. Cuzzi's fellow crew members are currently Jerry Crawford (crew chief), Bill Hohn, and Brian O'Nora.
Cuzzi has been at the center of several recent controversies. In the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2005 National League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals, Cuzzi, working as the home plate umpire, ejected Cardinals star outfielder Jim Edmonds for allegedly arguing balls and strikes. With Edmonds batting and the count 3-1, Astros pitcher Dan Wheeler threw a fastball that Edmonds thought was ball four. As he started to walk down to first base, Edmonds was shocked to find that Cuzzi had called the pitch strike two. Edmonds turned around to ask where the pitch was, and was promptly tossed from the game. Pinch hitter John Rodriguez flied out to center field to end the inning. The Cardinals went on to lose the game and eventually lost the series four games to two. Earlier in the game, Cuzzi had ejected Cardinals manager Tony La Russa for disputing balls and strikes from the dugout [1]. This has been the only League Championship Series which Cuzzi has been chosen to umpire; he previously officiated in the 2003 and 2004 National League Division Series.
Cuzzi also has a controversial history with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2003, with Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay pitching in his second to last game of the season and going for his team-record 22nd win, Cuzzi ejected the star pitcher for hitting Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli with a pitch. Few people, not even Baldelli himself, believed the beaning was intentional. Furthermore, MLB rules dictate that when warnings have been issued (as Cuzzi had done prior to the start of the game), the manager of the ejected pitcher's team must also be thrown out, something Cuzzi failed to do. The Jays went on to lose what was at that point a 1-0 game, and Halladay, who had four straight complete-game victories coming into the contest, had to wait until his last outing of the season to break the team wins record [2].
A year earlier, Cuzzi was severely criticized by then-Blue Jays slugger Carlos Delgado, after Delgado was called out on strikes with the June 14 game against the Chicago Cubs on the line. Delgado, who thought the pitch was nearly a foot outside, later referred to Cuzzi as "amateurish" and said it was the "worst call I've seen in a long, long time."[citation needed]
In 2008, Cuzzi will be on Ed Montague's crew, along with Jerry Layne and Jim Wolf.
Cuzzi was once again mired in controversy when White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen claimed Cuzzi had a vendetta against him and that "He don't like me, I don't like him."[3] Guillen's comments were in regard to Cuzzi ejecting him after arguing balls and strikes, the second time in as many years Cuzzi has ejected Guillen for said offense.
