Now retired, longtime Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott scanned the playoff lineup and was startled to spot the names of so many young umps.
When he saw the list for the upcoming World Series, he had the same reaction. And then some.
“I saw hints in previous years. But this year, my God, it’s a changing of the guard,” he said. “It’s been leading up to this, but now it’s official.”
In a nod to computerized strike zones, plus other factors including injuries, retirements and postseason rotations, the seven-man World Series umpire crew announced Wednesday by MLB is easily the youngest in recent memory.
At an average age of 45.7 years old, the crew calling the Philadelphia Phillies-Houston Astros matchup is more than five years younger than the average of World Series crews over the past decade, The Associated Press tallied.
So young, in fact, there won’t be a full-time regular-season crew chief on the field in Game 2 on Saturday night. Usually, two or sometimes three veteran chiefs are on the Fall Classic crew.
“That would’ve been unimaginable not too long ago,” said Scott, who emphasized he gives high marks to this crew.
One of the reasons: In general, younger umpires tend to score more highly with ball-strike calling in MLB metrics. And with fans howling every time a pitch is missed on the TV box, and those shouts ramping up calls for robot umps already being used in the minor leagues, the sport would like to keep barking to a minimum.
Pat Hoberg joined the full-time umpiring staff in 2017 and, at 36, is set to work the plate in Game 2 on Saturday night in Houston. In the past, it would’ve taken much longer to draw a coveted World Series assignment.
But Hoberg rates among the best pitch callers in the majors. The web site umpscorecards.com — which tracks every pitch of the season and uses advanced methods to analyze them — ranks him No. 1 in accuracy among all umpires at 95.4%.
The site doesn’t use the same box that MLB employs, and neither do the TV networks. But the ratings give a good indication of who scores best behind the plate.
Tripp Gibson, at 41, and Jordan Baker, at 40, also rated highly in pitch accuracy and will work their first World Series.
Dan Iassogna (53) is the crew chief and working his third World Series, often praised within the sport for the way he calmly runs games. Alan Porter (44), James Hoye (51) and Lance Barksdale (55) are calling the Fall Classic for the second time.
MLB considers many factors when picking the World Series crew — ball-strike grades, game management, performance this year and over a career, and more.
Also, who’s available. Many umpires were hurt and missed long periods this season. Veteran Ted Barrett, meanwhile, called the 2021 World Series, and umps don’t work it in consecutive years.
