Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1613596 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-31
• Released on: 2004-03-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 211 pages

From Booklist
Phillips was a professional baseball umpire for 32 years, many of them spent in the major leagues. "I admit that sounds like a pretty good job description," he writes. "But there is much more involved in being an umpire than fans understand or appreciate." Over the years, Phillips was a diplomat, a detective, a mediator, a hero, and a villain. He threw Gaylord Perry, the notorious pitcher, out of a game, when none of his colleagues had ever managed to get the proof they needed that Perry was throwing spitballs. He had a corked bat stolen from his locker in an operation so ingenious it could have leapt off the pages of a Hollywood script. He was on duty when the Chicago White Sox held their disastrous "Disco Demolition Night" promotion, and mobs set the outfield on fire. He went face-to-face with some of baseball's most famous names but managed to earn the respect of the game's players and managers. His memoir, written with coauthor Rains, is chock-full of the kind of behind-the-scenes details that fans crave. David Pitt
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