MLB to changeup umpire assignments for the World Series

Baseball has seen enough bad calls and is changing the way it assigns umpires for the World Series:

Stung by a rash of blown calls in the playoffs, Major League Baseball is breaking tradition and sticking with only experienced umpires for the World Series.

Longtime crew chiefs Joe West, Dana DeMuth and Gerry Davis, along with Brian Gorman, Jeff Nelson and Mike Everitt will handle the games, three people with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press this week . . . In 24 of the last 25 World Series, the six-man crew has included at least one umpire working the event for the first time--baseball likes to reward newer umpires, plus replenish the supply of umps with Series experience.

Not that this is a guarantee of anything better than what we’ve seen. An experienced umpire does not necessarily make for a good umpire. Joe West has been around forever, and for as long as he’s been around, people have complained about him. And he doesn’t take well to complaints: back in 1984 West actually ejected two SportsChannel cameramen when they allowed Mets players and coaches to see replays of a call he blew. And let us not forget that our friend Tim McClelland has been around for over 25 years, and he still made those awful calls at third base on Tuesday night.

But at least it’s something. Not as good as, say, the limited introduction of replay or -- an idea I heard someone suggest yesterday which may be better -- simply stationing an umpire in the press box, giving him access to video and a headset and allowing him to serve as a overruling authority in the event something clearly gets blown on the field.