Inductees

Dave Phillips was born and raised in Jennings, MO. He attended Jennings High School and then Southwest Missouri State University. In 1964, Phillips made the decision to enter umpiring school, where he excelled and finished third in his class after the final evaluation process was concluded. He was quickly offered a job in the Midwest League, which was comprised of teams competing in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. After two years there, he was promoted to the Texas League where he spent one year and then moved up to the International League. After a four year stint, the American League purchased Phillips’ contract in September 1970. Upon signing a contract with Major League Baseball, he became one of the youngest umpires in the league’s history.

Phillips became a crew chief in 1979 and embarked on one of the league’s longest tenures, 22 years, as a crew chief and remained in the league for a total of 32 years. He worked four World Series, two All-Star Games and seven League Championship Series.