He was the crew chief during the 1979 Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, ordering the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the second game of a scheduled doubleheader to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
[2] On August 18, 1983, Phillips was one of the umpires who worked the continuation of a game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals which originally ended when George Brett was called out for excessive pine tar on his bat.
Phillips provided an affidavit to Yankee manager Billy Martin stating that the runners who scored on that home run touched all the bases.
However, the trick did not work as the new bat had Paul Sorrento's name on it, and Belle received a seven-game suspension.
[5] In 2004, Phillips wrote a book with Rob Rains titled Center Field on Fire (after Disco Demolition Night), which chronicled his over thirty-year career in major and minor league baseball.