Meet the World Series umpiring crew

The World Series will use a six-member crew. The crew chief will work behind home plate for the first game, and the entire crew rotates as follows: home plate to right field to left field to third base to second base to first base, then back to home plate for Game 7. The other most experienced umpires on the crew will begin the series in the outfield, so the rotation takes them behind the plate for late-series games.

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Gerry Davis (crew chief)

No.: 12 | Age: 56 | Experience: 25 years
Games 1-7 assignments: HP, RF, LF, 3B, 2B, 1B, HP

Davis, a regular-season crew chief, will work his fourth World Series (also 1996, 1999 and 2004), but he hasn't had a plate assignment (because of sweeps) since the Yankees beat Atlanta in the '96 Series. He was the plate umpire in Milwaukee for the 2002 All-Star Game, which ended in a tie, and was the crew chief for this year's NL Division Series between Colorado and Philadelphia. He was part of a series of arguments with Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who argued plays at first base, second base and third base in the deciding Game 4 of the series. Davis ruled Philadelphia's Shane Victorino safe on a close play at third base in the third inning.

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Joe West

No.: 22 | Age: 57 | Experience: 31 years
Games 1-7 assignments: RF, LF, 3B, 2B, 1B, HP, RF

"Cowboy" Joe West, a regular-season crew chief, was last seen in the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, but you might have seen Joe singing country music somewhere or heard his CDs "Blue Cowboy" or "Diamond Dreams." West worked this year's Boston-L.A. Angels AL Division Series and last year's Chicago-Tampa Bay AL Division Series. He was the plate umpire for Clay Buchholz's no-hitter in 2007 against Baltimore, which ended on a called third strike. As a viewer, be patient; sometimes West's calls will seem delayed by a beat. He takes his time on calls.

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Dana DeMuth

No.: 32 | Age: 53 | Experience: 25 years
Games 1-7 assignments: LF, 3B, 2B, 1B, HP, RF, LF

A regular-season crew chief, DeMuth is making his third World Series appearance. His first two appearances (1993 and 1998) both ended with him behind the plate. He was the plate umpire for Joe Carter's walk-off home run to end the '93 Series and for Game 4 in '98, when the Yankees completed a sweep of San Diego. He also has been the plate umpire for two All-Star Games this decade (in Seattle and St. Louis), and was the crew chief for this year's St. Louis-L.A. Dodgers NL Division Series. When DeMuth is working the bases, he uses very quick and subtle motions for out calls.

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Mike Everitt

No.: 57 | Age: 45 | MLB service time: 10 years
Games 1-7 assignments: 3B, 2B, 1B, HP, RF, LF, 3B

Everitt was a part of Gerry Davis' umpiring crew in the regular season. He's working the World Series for the second time (his first was in 2007), and has never worked the plate in a World Series game. He will be behind the plate for Game 4 in Philadelphia. Viewers of this year's St. Louis-L.A. Dodgers NL Division Series will remember Everitt as the plate umpire for the deciding third game in which Cardinals hitters disputed his strike zone on several occasions. Everitt makes his calls with emphatic motions, in particular his third-strike call. He was the plate umpire for Kevin Millwood's no-hitter against San Francisco in 2003 and was the plate umpire who broke up the Shane Victorino-Hiroki Kuroda brush-back incident in the 2008 NLCS.

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Brian Gorman

No.: 9 | Age: 50 | MLB service time: 17 years
Games 1-7 assignments: 2B, 1B, HP, RF, LF, 3B, 2B

Gorman worked the regular season as the No. 2 umpire on Gerry Davis' crew. He spent several series as a fill-in crew chief because of injuries to other umpires. He worked this year's Boston-L.A. Angels AL Division Series, but did not work the plate because the series ended in a sweep. This is Gorman's second World Series assignment (his first was 2004), but he's been a familiar figure in postseason baseball recently. Gorman worked the plate for Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS when an injury forced Derryl Cousins out of the series. Crew chief Tim McClelland would have worked home plate in Game 7, but he had filled in for Cousins in Game 6.

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Jeff Nelson

No.: 45 | Age: 44 | MLB service time: 11 years
Games 1-7 assignments: 1B, HP, RF, LF, 3B, 2B, 1B

Nelson worked on Tim Tschida's crew in the regular season and was part of Dana DeMuth's crew in the St. Louis-L.A. Dodgers NL Division Series this year. This is his second World Series. In 2005, he worked with Joe West's crew on the Houston-Chicago World Series. In Game 2 of that series, fans might remember Nelson's disputed call on Jermaine Dye's hit-by-pitch, which might have been a foul ball. The next batter, Paul Konerko, hit a grand slam. Fans of "Baseball Tonight" Web Gems might remember Nelson from one of this year's strangest plays. On April 21, San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a ball to right field in San Francisco on which both Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley tried to score. Headley was right behind Gonzalez at the plate. Gonzalez was safe, but Headley was tagged out only a split second later. Nelson made the emphatic call at home plate of "safe" and "out" for the two different runners. Nelson is a cancer survivor.

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