CLEVELAND — John Hirschbeck will serve as crew chief for the World Series between the Cubs and Indians, Major League Baseball announced.
Hirschbeck’s crew will include regular season crew chiefs Joe West and Larry Vanover, Chris Guccione, Sam Holbrook, Marvin Hudson and Tony Randazzo. All seven umpires – including the two rotating replay officials for the 2016 World Series – worked the Division Series this postseason. Each of the seven will work home plate should the series go all seven games.
Hirschbeck, 62, makes his fifth World Series duties. It will be the sixth for West, 63, an umpire for a record 39 consecutive years.
The last time the Cubs saw West, on Sept. 12 in St. Louis, he ejected Cubs manager Joe Maddon after Kyle Hendricks’ no-hitter was broken up in the ninth inning. Maddon tried stalling for time because closer Aroldis Chapman wasn’t quite ready to enter the game, but West would have nothing to do with the tactic and he prevented catcher Miguel Montero from making a second visit to the mound.
Maddon went nose-to-nose with West and was ejected.
“We were denied. I didn’t like that. I made my stand,” Maddon said at the time.
Game 1 is Tuesday in Cleveland.
