Purpose of extra umpires? (5&6)

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

Originally Posted by Manny A

I think RB's comment was a vain attempt at humor. Yes, six-man crews in post-season play were being used for quite a while.

I don't know the accuracy of this, but I found this tidbit of history on the web:

"Did you know that prior to 1947, a 4-man (or less in the early days) crew was used for the World Series? In 1947, MLB went to a 6-man crew. However, from 1947-1963, the two outfield umpires stayed in their position for the entire series and did not rotate. Only the four infield umpires rotated for the series. In 1964, MLB went to the current system of rotating all six umpires."

Not surprisingly, in 1947 they wanted to pay those outfield umps LESS that the other guys! Jocko Conlin says they almost walked out over that. Also, they tended to use that to 'break in' relatively less experienced umps into the Series atmosphere.