2016 World Series Umpires: Joe West Is On The Crew

Joe West is one of the most disliked umpires in baseball today. He’s been a big-league umpire for 39 seasons, and his histrionics and the perception that he wants to make himself part of the show are a couple of the reasons behind this dislike. The photo above is of West ejecting Joe Maddon from the game in St. Louis September 12 after Kyle Hendricks’ no-hit bid was broken up and Joe wanted Miguel Montero to go to the mound to buy a little more time for Aroldis Chapman to get ready.

West will be part of the seven-man crew announced Monday by Major League Baseball to umpire the World Series between the Cubs and Indians. Here are the men who’ll umpire the Fall Classic, along with their experience. John Hirschbeck will be the crew chief. Tony Randazzo is a Chicago-area native who attended Lake Park High School in Roselle.

HP Larry Vanover (24 years) 3 DS; 3 LCS
1B Chris Guccione (10 years) 1 WC; 6 DS; 1 LCS
2B John Hirschbeck (33.5 years) 1 WC; 10 DS; 5 LCS; 4 WS
3B Marvin Hudson (17.5 years) 6 DS; 1 LCS
LF Tony Randazzo (17.5 years) 7 DS; 2 LCS
RF Joe West (39 years) 2 WC; 8 DS; 9 LCS; 5 WS
Replay Sam Holbrook (16.5 years) 1 WC; 5 DS; 4 LCS; 1 WS

Replay Official for Games 1-2: Sam Holbrook (with assistance from Todd Tichenor)
Replay Official for Games 3-7: Larry Vanover (with assistance from Todd Tichenor)

The above are the assignments for Game 1. The rotation goes RF-LF-3B-2B-1B-HP, so if the Cubs can win the series in five games or fewer, we won’t have to see West behind the plate.