NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Miller will umpire his 10th League Championship Series and be joined as an LCS crew chief by Mark Wegner.
Miller, 59, made his big league debut in 1997 and enters the American League Championship Series with 126 career postseason games, second among active umpires to Alfonso Márquez’s 130. Miller is fifth overall, also trailing Gerry Davis (151), Ted Barrett (138) and Joe West (132).
Miller’s 10 LCS appearances will tie Barrett, West and Bruce Froemming for third-most behind Jerry Crawford (12) and Davis (11).
Edwin Moscoso and Nestor Ceja will work the LCS for the first time, Major League Baseball said Sunday.
Miller will head the crew for the ALCS between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians beginning Monday, joined by Jordan Baker, Ceja, Chad Fairchild, Adam Hamari, Mark Ripperger and Carlos Torres.
Wegner’s crew for the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers starting Sunday includes Ryan Additon, Moscoso, Alan Porter, David Rackley, Chris Segal and John Tumpane.
Wegner, 54, made his big league debut in 1998 and was crew chief for last year’s World Series. He was behind the plate for Game 3, an 18-inning, 609-pitch, 6-hour, 39-minute marathon won by the Dodgers 6-5 over Toronto.
Seven-man crews will work each series, with one umpire off each game.
Ripperger had a 44.3% overturn rate in the first season of the ABS ball/strike system of robot umpires, second-best to Jansen Visconti (42.2%) among those with 100 or more challenges, according to taptochallenge.com.
Additon had a 45% rate, followed by Ceja (46.6%), Rackley (48.3%), Wegner (48.8%), Hamari (49.1%), Fairchild (50.5%), Moscoso (52.3%), Torres (53.7%), Porter (54.9%), Tumpane (57.5%), Baker (57.9%), Segal (60.6%) and Miller (60.7%).
Ripperger is the only LCS ump who worked the plate earlier this postseason. He was overturned on two of three challenges in Atlanta’s 6-2 win over Philadelphia in Game 3 of a Wild Card Series on Oct. 1.
Ceja will be behind the plate for Monday night’s ALCS opener, with Miller at first, Ripperger at second, Baker at third, Fairchild in left, Hamari in right and Torres in reserve.
Torres will work the plate in Game 2, followed by Miller, Ripperger, Baker, Fairchild and Hamari.
Moscoso will call balls and strikes for Sunday night’s NLCS opener, with Wegner at first, Additon at second, Porter at third, Rackley in left, Tumpane in right and Segal in reserve.
Segal will be behind the plate in Game 2, followed by Wegner, Additon, Porter, Rackley and Tumpane.
Wegner is working his sixth LCS; Porter his fifth; Baker and Fairchild their fourth; Hamari, Rackley and Ripperger their third; and Additon, Segal, Torres and Tumpane their second.
Erich Bacchus, Lance Barkdale and Adam Beck will be the replay umpires at MLB’s office in New York.
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