Mike Winters

From Gaslamp Ball Wiki - A Wiki for San Diego Padres Fans

Milton Bradley Incident

On September 23, 2007, Winters was accused of "baiting" San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley in a game against the Colorado Rockies. When Bradley came to the plate in the eighth inning, plate umpire Brian Runge told him that other umpires had stated Bradley had thrown his bat toward Runge following a strikeout in the fifth inning, which Bradley denied.

After reaching first base, Bradley asked Winters if he had been one of the umpires, and Winters told him that he had indeed thrown his bat. Bradley began arguing about the allegation, and Winters replied that he should "shut the fuck up and play the game," whereupon Bradley continued to argue and complained that Winters was "treating him like a piece of shit."

Winters reportedly replied that Bradley was a "fucking piece of shit" who should "shut the fuck up and play the game", after which Bradley lunged at Winters and tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee while being restrained by manager Bud Black. Bradley later called Winters' reaction "the most unprofessional and most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. It's terrible. And now, because of him, my knee's hurt."

Three days later, Major League Baseball suspended Winters for the remainder of the 2007 season due to his aiming a profanity at Bradley.

Will Venable Incident

On September 8, 2010 in the Padres vs. Dodgers Mike Winters had apparently called Will Venable out of the baseline resulting in a double play for the Dodgers. The runner was clearly not out of baseline and the Padres did not get the score that would have been coming to them. Basically Mike Winters needs to read the rule book a little more clearly as stated by the Padres Television broadcasters. However, during the postgame interview Bud Black said that Winters told him that he called Will Venable out of the tag. Still, no word yet on whether any racial slurs were exchanged.