"People only know to hate us. We are a misunderstood group. People don't really know us, but to know us is to love us." - Phil Cuzzi

Philip Cuzzi (born August 29, 1955 in Newark, NJ) is an American professional baseball umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB). His surname (Cuzzi) largely hails from the Abruzzo region of Southern Italy according to geneanet.org.

Phil worked as a reserve umpire in the National League (NL) from 1991 to 1993 and returned to the NL in 1999. Since 2000, he has worked in both major leagues. Phil wore number 99 when his career started; he now wears number 10.

Cuzzi umpired in the New York–Penn League, Carolina League, South Atlantic League, Southern League, Triple-A Alliance, International League, American Association, Florida State League, and Eastern League before his promotion to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on June 4, 1991, umpiring at first base in an 11-inning game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. From 1991 through 1993, Cuzzi umpired a total of 71 National League games.

Cuzzi's umpiring career temporarily came to a halt in 1993. He had advanced to Class AAA baseball and served as an MLB reserve umpire. However, although he had done well, by 1993 there were no full-time major league slots for him, and he was released. Cuzzi subsequently worked as a substitute teacher and bartender. While working at a hotel bar in 1996, he had a chance meeting with NL president Len Coleman, who allowed him to resume umpiring if he would work his way back up from the low minor leagues. In 1999, Cuzzi returned to the NL, working 49 games. He was promoted to the full-time major league staff in 2000.

Phil has worked the Wild Card Game in 2013 and the Division Series in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2016. He has umpired in the National League Championship Series in 2005, 2014 and 2019. Cuzzi was also the plate umpire for Game 1 of the 2017 World Series. He also worked the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium and the 2019 All-Star Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland. In Game 1 of the 2015 National League Division Series between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, Cuzzi's wide strike zone was criticized by some Cubs players and media for contributing to their 4–0 loss.

Cuzzi has umpired in at least three MLB no-hitters. He was behind the plate for Bud Smith's no-hitter on September 3, 2001, and for Cole Hamels' no-hitter on July 25, 2015. He was the third base umpire when San Francisco Giants pitcher Jonathan Sánchez no-hit the San Diego Padres on July 10, 2009. He also was the plate umpire for a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays on August 29, 2000 in which eight members of the Rays were ejected (seven by Cuzzi), but no Boston players were thrown out, something that reportedly had never happened before.

On April 16, 2009, Cuzzi was the first base umpire for the first game ever at the new Yankee Stadium.

When Major League Baseball introduced stricter rules concerning pitchers using foreign substances to improve their grip on the baseball in 2021, Phil became known as the strictest enforcer of the rules. He ejected pitchers Hector Santiago and Caleb Smith that year, and on April 19, 2023 tossed out Max Scherzer for a similar violation. In this case, it was home plate umpire Dan Bellino who first detected a problem, and after Scherzer was asked first to wash his hand, and then to change his glove, it was Cuzzi, who was the crew chief. who finally tossed him out of the game when the problem persisted.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)