Mike Muchlinski

Michael William Muchlinski

• Height 5' 10", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of Washington
• High School Ephrata High School

• Born February 26, 1977 in Tacoma, WA USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Mike Muchlinski umpired in the major leagues as a vacation and injury replacement beginning in 2006, working AAA when not in the majors. He also worked the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He worked between 30 and 40 major league games in his first three seasons, then saw his workload increase significantly in 2009. He worked over 100 games in 2011 and again in 2012, in spite of not being assigned to a regular umpiring crew. He earned promotion as a full-time major umpire before the 2014 season, having already worked 569 big league games.

On August 5, 2011, he was behind the plate when a bench-clearing brawl erupted between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. He restored order by ejecting Shane Victorino, Eli Whiteside and Ramon Ramirez from the game. On June 13, 2012, he was working first base for Matt Cain's perfect game. On September 19th that same year, he was at the center of a controversial call in a game between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians. In the 8th inning, Joe Mauer hit a sinking liner to left field with Jamey Carroll on second base. LF Vinny Rottino came in to attempt a diving catch, but Muchlinski, who was working at third base, called the batter safe, allowing Carroll to score. However, Indians manager Manny Acta came out to argue, and Muchlinski's colleagues reversed the call, calling Mauer out and taking back the run.

He worked his first postseason games in 2016, during the NLDS. He also worked the 2018 All-Star Game.

Related Sites

• Mike Muchlinski on Retrosheet.org