Ted Barrett would park his car near the current CSUEB campus baseball field for football practice, and on his way back to his car he would watch a Cal State Hayward baseball game.

However, for Barrett, it wasn’t so much the teams that would catch his attention.

This Cal State Hayward alumni was fascinated with umpiring.

Due to this fascination, Ted Barrett became one of the most prominent Major League Baseball umpires the game has ever seen.

Ted Barrett graduated from Cal State East Bay (formally known as Cal State Hayward) in 1988.

He was the captain of the football team his senior year and shortly after became a member of the coaching staff for a year.

Barrett chose CSU Hayward because to him, it was home.

He had lived in various parts of the country before he and his family settled in Union City while he was in high school.

“The thing about the Bay Area is that it’s such a melting pot of so many people—different nationalities, backgrounds and international people. It really helped prepare me for umpiring. Traveling all over the place, I felt like I had already connected with so many types of people and cultures because of my experiences in Hayward,” said Barrett.

Not only is Barrett a highly admired MLB umpire, he is also a part of major league history.

Barrett was behind the plate for former Yankee pitcher David Cone’s perfect game on July 18, 1999 at Yankee stadium in New York.

“In the history of baseball, only twenty complete games have ever been thrown. To be a part of this one was truly something special,” said Barrett.

But for this East Bay graduate, it’s local venues that hold a significant amount of history for him.

Barrett was a part of the first game to ever be played at AT&T Park in San Francisco when it opened in 2000.

In 2004, AT&T Park was the site of Greg Maddux’s 300th career win where Barrett worked behind the plate, and it was also at this same park where he worked his first playoff game in the Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets.

Recently, Barrett had the privilege of working the 2010 National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies, where the Giants would end up advancing to the World Series to become 2010 champions.

“It was a lot of fun. Anytime I umpire in the postseason it’s really neat because the vibe gets turned up and the fans get louder. The city of San Francisco was buzzing,” said Barrett.

Ted Barrett currently makes his home in Gilbert, Arizona with his wife and three children.

Along with being a family man and a successful umpire, Barrett is also an ordained minister
in the Christian faith.

Reverend Barrett vividly remembers his times at CSUEB and attributes a lot of his success and the person he is today to this university.

“Not only was it Cal State Hayward where my interest in umpiring started, but it was also in Hayward where I became in touch with my spiritual side. We would go to chapel service before football games with the team, and I would meet in the Student Union once a week where I would be mentored,” said Barrett.

Hayward seemed to be the stepping-stone of moral conduct in the veteran umpire’s life—one he still carries until this day.

“From the standpoint of being a minister, I feel that God put me in the Major League baseball for a reason. I use the platform to minister to the rest of the umpires. It’s very fulfilling.”

This university as a whole is something that Barrett truly values.

“I take a lot of pride in Cal State Hayward and when I’m back, it’s exciting to see new changes and features being added,” said Barrett.

Fresh off his 14th year of umpiring in the majors, Barrett seeks to continue his career as an umpire for many more years to come.

He looks forward to being a part of more special baseball moments and his frequent returns to the area.

Not only does the Bay Area hold important milestones in the career of Barrett, it also holds an important piece of history in his life.

“I used to go to games at Candlestick and the Coliseum, and it’s nice when I come back home and walk on those fields.

It puts everything into prospective for me because I used to dream of someday getting out there and umpiring. That dream came true,” said Barrett.