MLB Alters Umpiring Crew For World Series

NFL News - October 23rd, 2009 - Written by John

MLB Betting has been affected several times because of mis calls by upmires on the base paths.

This year's postseason has probably created more anxiety than fans would care to experience, and it hasn't been because of team performance. Instead, umpires have become the central villain in multiple pundit conversations, which usually end in an agreement that instant replay in the future is in order.

There have been more than a handful of clearly blown calls, many of them coming in the ALCS, and Major League Baseball has taken a step in quelling the outrage. The league will dispatch only experienced umpires for the World Series for only the second time in 25 years, shutting out the officials who have been responsible for the questionable calls.

The main problem has been the umpires becoming visible. They are quiet and irrelevant when their job is done properly, but every game this postseason seems to have it's own story. First it was the ALDS when Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer hit a liner that landed a good two feet inside the foul line. Phil Cuzzi didn't see it and called it foul. Then in the NLDS, home plate umpire Jerry Meals, missed Chase Utley's tapper hitting him in the thigh, which should have been ruled foul. In Game Four of the ALCS, Tim McClelland was in front of a play in which two Yankee players were tagged off the bag, but only called out one of them.

MLB officials prefer to use at least one rookie umpire in the World Series as a reward for a good season while also allowing a smooth transition between crews in the future. Crews are typically chosen from the 24 umpires who manned the first round of the playoffs because rules don't permit umps to work back-to-back rounds.

CB Bucknor, who missed several calls in the Red Sox-Angels opening series, was the only one named in the report on ESPN.com, saying that his spotty performance directly damaged his chances to work the championship.

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