Report: Seventh umpire added to MLB championship rotation
Major League Baseball will add a seventh umpire to the official rotation for the league championship series and world series this fall, the Associated Press reported Monday.
According to a league source, the extra official will cover home plate during Game 1, switch to right field for Game 2, the shift back to the replay booth in New York for the remainder of the series. Another umpire will cover replay duties for the first two games of the series, the source said.
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Despite the change, six-man crews will still work this season's wild card and best-of-five series. The seven-man crew was created through bargaining between the umpires' union and the league.
The expanded use of replay, increased this year to cover almost every call but balls and strikes, spurred the change.
As a part of the deal, the replay umpire will be joined by an assistant umpire in the booth. The assistant umpire will remain in the booth throughout the series.
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Major league baseball's postseason kicks off on Tuesday night, when the Oakland Athletics travel to Kansas City to play the Royals in the AL wild card match-up.
- Christopher Woody
