Year Inducted – 2023

Michael Phillips was born in Akron, Ohio and grew up in Suffield, Ohio.  He was a multi-sport athlete at Field High School. In 1992, he started his umpiring career for Firestone Park Youth Baseball. In February of 1993, he took classes to become an OHSAA umpire. He was the 1993 Rookie of the Year for Summit Umpires. In 2000, Phillips was elected to the board of Summit Umpires and has served on the board for 23 years.  He is currently the President. He has helped teach at the new umpiring classes with Hall of Fame Officials Rick Quintrell, Ed Galloway, Ron Reed and Mark Craig.

Phillips has umpired baseball at just about every high school in Summit and Portage Counties, with some in Stark, Wayne and Medina Counties.  he has worked multiple OHSAA playoff games and in 2016 was honored to umpire the Division Three State Semi-Final. He has umpired Summer League playoff and championship games for GABF, SSBL, Roy Hobbs and Hot Stove. Phillips also served as the Umpire-in-Chief for the Green Baseball Softball Federation (GBSF). He held this position from 2013 to 2023. His duties were to recruit and train young men and women to become umpires for Rec Baseball. Many of the umpires he trained have moved on and became OHSAA umpires.  Baseball has been his joy for nearly 40 years where he has made many great friends, from coaches and umpires to players and teammates. Next to the birth of his children and being married to his wife, playing and umpiring baseball have been some of the best life experiences he has ever had.