Ed Price at AOL Fanhouse reports this weekend that Phil Cuzzi, the umpire who botched the Joe Mauer fly ball call that may have cost the Twins a win in Game 2 of the ALDS, was previously fired from professional umpiring after he failed to impress supervisors during call-ups from the minor leagues.
(And you thought you had a good union!)
Cuzzi was “released” from his umpiring duties as a AAA umpire in ‘93, but while working as a bartender in a hotel in ‘96, he prevailed up former National League President Len Coleman to give him another chance at the job.
(If only he’d botched fateful martini at the Hackensack Hilton that badly)
Cuzzi was then assigned to the low minors that year, eventually working his way back to a permanent major league job in ‘99.
Since he locked down that gig, Cuzzi has emphatically proven why he should’ve never been given a second chance. Per Price:
In October 1999, the Mets protested to Major League Baseball that Cuzzi, working home plate for a Mets-Braves game, refused to ask for help from the first- and third-base umpires. A New York Post story suggested it was because the corner umpires were union veterans and he was one of the hired replacements.
Add in several more documented, on-field controversies and it appears we might just be seeing a pattern developing here.
I worked as a baseball announcer for a decade in the minor and major leagues, and I got to know many umpires during that time. A lot of fine gentlemen, but understand there’s no industry where a stronger old boy network exists. It’s like the mafia or a union with a vice-grip over a company: no one can touch you - no matter how incompetent you are.
Now Twins fans can only lament that Cuzzi didn’t botch Coleman’s martini at the Hacksensack Airport Ramada in ‘96 as badly as he did Friday’s call.
7:45 am on October 11th, 2009
Pam Postema would have called that ball fair. Hell, Ray Charles would have called that ball fair.
10:21 am on October 11th, 2009
I don’t like this one bit and I’m a Yankees fan. It wasn’t all one-sided though. The home plate ump was calling high and outside pitches for the Twins all night, but when the Yankees pitchers threw the same pitches, they were balls. This is just the human element of the game. /there will always be controversy.
11:30 am on October 11th, 2009
twins still had the bases loaded no outs did not score thats why they lost.
12:57 pm on October 11th, 2009
Hard to imagine how a reasonable person could have made Cuzzi’s mistakes — missing the outfielder’s touch (with the outfielder in fair territory) and the ball landing in fair territory.
The home plate umpire favored the Twins’ several pitchers? Different strike zones for different teams? Really? MLB umpires discriminated against the Yankees? Seriously? Go back to your home planet!
10:57 am on October 12th, 2009
So am I supposed to act surprised that the Yankees received preferential calls? Half of the baseball fanbase belongs to them and they haven’t sniifed a WS since when? Just saying………….
11:27 am on October 12th, 2009
How can a guy miss this call! What the hell was he looking at anyways! Follow the ball, not the play! How much did Steinbrenner give him for that one!
11:35 am on October 12th, 2009
As for the umpire “giving” the twins a break with the strike zone?? I watched the same game on TBS at my home….and the Yankee’s got the same damn calls too! Only a goofy, drunk, and obnoxious Yankee fan would say that comment! You DO NOT MISS A CALL LIKE THAT IN THE ALDS PLAYOFFS…..especially that late in a game tied at 1-1!! IF that happened to the Yankee’s, the fans would have strung up that Cuzzi umpire and left him hanging on the foul pole! Totally a bad call, and could have/would have changed the outcome of the game! Yes, the yankee’s have the best team in baseball(of course they spent 9,000,000,000,000,000!!)and play well, but lets not have the umpire(Cuzzi)lack of talent, common sense, and ability to see the correct side of the foul line to determine the outcome of such an improtant game! INSTANT REPLAY WOULD CORRECT this situation, and most certainly remove Cuzzi from EVER umpiring another game again! Go Angels!
6:08 pm on October 12th, 2009
the twins screwed themselves by not scoring with the bases loaded and no outs! pathetic!
10:42 pm on October 12th, 2009
I’m the first to admit that Minnesota played terrible in that series. Boneheaded baserunning, absolutely no clutch hitting and their so called closer Nathan needs to go back to making hot dogs again. He was awful. But it was obvious too that N.Y. got every break in the book by that umpiring crew. If getting the big market teams to the W.S. has become the most important thing to network run baseball, then they’ve lost me for a fan. And they have the nerve to keep Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame? They need to look in the mirror.
10:46 pm on October 12th, 2009
On top of that the umpires also “helped” Philadelphia beat Colorado. Gotta make money for TBS and Fox by making sure those northeastern and west coast teams get in rather than teams from REAL American cities like Denver and Minneapolis.
4:45 pm on October 13th, 2009
The players are the human element of the game. The umpires are superfluous, redundant and obsolete.
Get rid of all of ‘em. Too many are either corrupt or incompetent.
I say video and technology for EVERY call.
In 2009 we no longer need human officiating.
Someone get on that.