Infield Fly Umpire, Sam Holbrook Part Of ALCS Crew
NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Holbrook, the umpire who made the controversial infield fly call that enraged the Atlanta Braves and their fans in the NL wild card game, is part of the crew for the AL championship series.
Major League Baseball spokesman Michael Teevan said that before the postseason began, the 12 umpires picked for the wild card games were assigned to work in the opposite league's LCS.
With Atlanta down 6-3 in the eighth inning, Andrelton Simmons hit a flyball to short left field that dropped between St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday after a mix-up over who would catch it. Just before the ball dropped, Holbrook — who was working the left field line — signaled an automatic out because of the infield fly rule.
Instead of Atlanta having the bases loaded with one out, the Braves had runners on second and third with two outs. Fans hurled cups and trash on the field, causing a 19-minute delay. The defending World Series champion Cardinals went on to a 6-3 win.
Jeff Kellogg is crew chief for the ALCS and was behind the plate for Saturday night's opener between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers. Rob Drake was at first, Holbrook at second, Jeff Nelson at third, Gary Cederstrom in left, and Mike Winters in right.
Gary Darling heads the NL championship series crew and was slated to work the plate for Sunday's opener between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, with Chris Guccione at first, Bill Miller at second, Greg Gibson at third, Ted Barrett in left, and Jerry Layne in right.
All 12 umpires worked in the new wild-card round. Drake and Guccione have never worked beyond the division series.
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