Davis, West among umpires for ALCS, NLCS

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball announced on Friday the umpire crews that will work the field during the National League and American League Championship Series. Two veteran umps with three decades of experience -- Gerry Davis and Joe West -- will serve as the crew chiefs in the ALCS and NLCS.

Davis, who has worked eight league championship series and five World Series in his 30 seasons of service, will helm the crew that calls the NLCS between the Dodgers and Cardinals. And West, a veteran of seven league championships, will be the crew chief for the ALCS between Detroit and Boston.

West and Davis will be behind home plate for Game 1 in the championship series round and will be back behind the plate for a potential Game 7. Interestingly, Davis was the crew chief and home-plate umpire for the AL Wild Card Game, and West had those duties on the NL side.

Davis, who has set a record by working 116 career postseason games, will lead an accomplished group of umpires. Three of them -- Ted Barrett, Mike Everitt and Greg Gibson -- worked with Davis in the Wild Card Game. Mark Carlson and Bruce Dreckman will also be on staff in the NLCS.

Carlson has worked the Divisional Series three times, but this will be his first time working in a Championship Series round. Dreckman has worked four Divisional Series and one Championship Series. Barrett, Gibson and Everit have worked every stage of the postseason up to the World Series.

West, who has more years of service than any other big league umpire, will work with veterans Dale Scott, Rob Drake, Dan Iassogna, Ron Kulpa and Alfonso Marquez in the ALCS.

Scott, Drake and Iassogna worked the NL Wild Card game with West, and Kulpa was assigned to the tiebreaker game between Tampa Bay and Texas. All of the umps in the ALCS have worked a championship series before, and Drake is the only one who hasn't called a World Series yet.