Mike Winters

Michael John Winters

• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School San Diego State University, San Diego Mesa College

• Born November 19, 1958 in Oceanside, CA USA

Biographical Information

Mike Winters has been a full-time major league umpire since 1990 when he joined the National League staff. He had previously worked a couple of games as a fill-in umpire in 1988 and 14 in the same capacity in 1989.

Winters began his career in the 1982 Northwest League then moved up to the California League (1983), Texas League (1984-1985) and Pacific Coast League (1986-1989). He then made it to the major leagues as part of the National League umpiring roster, and then of the major league roster when the two leagues merged their umpiring staffs in 2000. He worked the 1995 All-Star Game, 2002 World Series, 2006 World Series, 2007 All-Star Game, 2010 All-Star Game and 2010 World Series. He worked the games when Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. got their 3,000th hits and when Mark McGwire hits his 62nd homer in 1998.

Winters made headlines in September 2007 for the wrong reasons. At the height of the pennant race, he baited San Diego's Milton Bradley into an argument by using profanity. When coach Bobby Meacham intervened to prevent a physical confrontation between his player and the umpire, Bradley tore a ligament, ending his season. Winters was suspended for the remainder of the campaign, the first MLB ump suspended in four years.

In 2011, he was appointed a crew chief. On March 31, 2014, he was the first umpire to initiate a video review of his own volition, as allowed under the newly expanded rule, asking for the video umpire to look at whether Oakland A's catcher John Jaso had legally blocked the plate in tagging out Michael Brantley of the Cleveland Indians at home; the review confirmed that he had made the correct call.

Sources include 2010 MLB Umpires Media Guide

Related Sites

• Mike Winters at Retrosheet.org
• Sporting News umpire card