Crew Chief?

[bsaucer]

I was noticing the umpire lineup announcement at the beginning of a MLB game. They listed the 1st Base umpire as "Crew Chief". I thought the "Umpire in Chief" always calls home plate. Is there a difference between "Crew Chief" and "Umpire in Chief"?

[tcarilli]

At levels where the crew remains together for extended periods of time whether it be a series or a season, the crew chief remains constant. So, in essence the umpire in chief need not be the plate umpire. When a crew chief is not designated, generally, the PU becomes the crew chief, aka, umpire in chief.

[Ump29]

You got it all mixed up. The Umpire in Chief is always the plate umpire. The Crew Chief is like a team leader or team captain and stays the same no matter where they call.

[UmpTTS43]

Crew Chief is the now accepted designation for Umpire in Chief.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by UmpTTS43

Crew Chief is the now accepted designation for Umpire in Chief.

Not really. The latest version of OBR still designates the plate umpire as the UIC in rule 9.04(a). "Crew chief" is really a designation of the senior-most umpire of an established crew.

And now for a little worthless trivia:

In the MLB, there are 17 crews, named "A" through "Q". Only one crew, "Crew B", has two umpires with the same number of years in service. Jerry Layne and Bob Davidson both have 23 years, but Layne is the crew chief. All the others have crew chiefs that are senior to their partners.

The longest tenured crew chiefs are Dana DeMuth and Gerry Davis. Both have been chiefs since 1999.

Joe West, the most senior MLB umpire with 34 years in the Bigs, earned his crew chief status in 2003.

Ed Rapuano is the latest designated crew chief. He earned his status in 2011.

The crew chief with the least amount of MLB experience is Gary Cederstrom, with 18 years of service. There are five current MLB umpires--Davidson, Jim Joyce (23), Larry Vanover (19), Angel Hernandez (19), and Wally Bell (19)--who are senior to Cederstrom but aren't crew chiefs.

[kylejt]

So, you've got a Crew Chief, and a UIC in a game. Who makes the final decision on a protested rule, when the four guys can't come to a decision? I know in LL, when you've got a game UIC, which isn't always the PU, he's got the final say so. But I don't know what the Crew Chief's duty is.