Hirschbeck, Barrett picked as umpire crew chiefs for LCS

NEW YORK (AP) John Hirschbeck will be the umpire crew chief for the AL Championship Series and Ted Barrett will head the NLCS umps.

Major League Baseball announced the assignments Friday.

Tony Randazzo will work the plate for the ALCS opener Friday night in Kansas City between the Royals and Toronto. Dan Iassogna, Laz Diaz, Jeff Nelson and Hunter Wendelstedt also will be on the ALCS crew.

Jim Reynolds will be the ALCS replay official for the first two games, assisted by Mike Estabrook. Randazzo will move into the replay booth starting for Game 3.

Rob Drake will call balls and strikes for the NLCS opener Saturday night in New York between the Mets and Chicago Cubs. Eric Cooper, Paul Emmel, Tim Timmons and Bill Miller are part of that crew.

Mark Wegner will be the NLCS replay official for the first two games and then shift places with Drake.