Major League Baseball announced the umpires for the 2013 National League Championship Series on Friday, and Gerry Davis is the crew chief for the six-man staff.
Davis is in his 30th year as a major league umpire and has been a crew chief since 1999. His 116 postseason games are an MLB record for an umpire. He will be behind the plate in Game 1 of the series and, if necessary, Game 7 as well.
Joining Davis will be Ted Barrett, a regular season crew chief in his 15th playoff series; Mark Carlson, in his fourth postseason series; Bruce Dreckman, in his sixth playoff series; Mike Everitt, in his 14th playoff series; and Greg Gibson, in his 12th postseason series.
Game 1 starter Zack Greinke is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA with Davis behind the plate, including a 3.97 ERA in two starts this season. Davis called balls and strikes when Greinke allowed four runs at Coors Field on June 1 and when he allowed one run in San Francisco on Sept. 12. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly has only pitched once with Davis behind the plate, one scoreless inning of relief this season with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
Here are the umpiring assignments for Game 1:
- Home plate: Davis
- First base: Carlson
- Second base: Everitt
- Third base: Dreckman
- Left field: Barrett
- Right field: Gibson
The rotation moves from right to left in the outfield and clockwise in the infield, so in Game 2 for instance Davis will move to right field, Barrett to third base, and Carlson behind the plate.