Roster: 2014 AL, NL League Championship Series Umpires

The umpire assignments for MLB's League Championship Series are now available. MLB has not yet issued its official press release as the Division Series is not complete as of the time of this posting. This post, however, serves as an illustration of what to expect with the new seven-man umpiring crew & Game 3 replay rotation as reported on September 29 (as such, this serves as confirmation of the 9/29 story).

For instance, Dan Iassogna will begin the National League Championship Series at New York's MLBAM Replay Operations Center, where he will be assisted by Todd Tichenor. After the series shifts from its host city following the conclusion of Game 2, Iassogna will join chief Gerry Davis' crew, assuming Phil Cuzzi's position in the rotation while Cuzzi joins Tichenor in NY for the remainder of the series.

Crews below are listed in their Game 1 configuration. As MLB did during the Wild Card Games (and for two of the four Division Series), the Crew Chief begins each series at second base.

American League Championship Series (ALCS) - Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles
HP: Tim Timmons (10 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 13). [Games 1 & 2, then Replay]
1B: Marvin Hudson (-3 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 0).
2B: Joe West -cc (12 Previous + 3 League Championship Series + 1 Crew Chief Bonus = 16).
3B: Ron Kulpa (6 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 9).
LF: Mark Wegner (4 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 7).
RF: Brian Gorman (4 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 7).
Replay: Dan Iassogna (8 Previous + 3 League Championship Series). [Games 1 & 2, then LF]
Replay Assistant (Not Assigned to the Field of Play): Todd Tichenor.

National League Championship Series (NLCS) - San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals
HP: Phil Cuzzi (-3 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 0). [Games 1 & 2, then Replay]
1B: Bill Welke (2 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 5).
2B: Gerry Davis -cc (3 Previous + 3 League Championship Series + 1 Crew Chief Bonus = 7).
3B: Mark Carlson (13 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 16).
LF: Greg Gibson (16 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 19).
RF: Bill Miller (13 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 16).
Replay: Paul Emmel (11 Previous + 3 League Championship Series = 14). [Games 1 & 2, then LF]
Replay Assistant (Not Assigned to the Field of Play): Todd Tichenor.

-cc denotes Crew Chief, BOLD TEXT denotes first LCS assignment. Per UEFL Rule 4-3-c, all umpires selected to appear in the Championship Series shall receive three bonus points for this appearance; crew chiefs shall receive one additional bonus point for this role (four points total). Note that the LCS Replay Assistant does not receive additional points for this role.

Case Play 2014-5: Legality of a Fielder Blocking a Runner

2B Umpire Fieldin Culbreth's ALDS Game 3 obstruction no-call in Detroit is the subject of the rare postseason Case Play. With one out and R2, Tigers batter Torii Hunter hit a ground ball to Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy, who threw to second baseman Jonathan Schoop in an attempt to catch Tigers baserunner R2 Don Kelly off second base.

Video: Cubby calls the strange sequence at 2nd

Replays indicate that as F6 Hardy threw to F4 Schoop, Schoop positioned himself in front of R2 Kelly. After the throw, Schoop dropped the baseball and, as he recovered the ball within his immediate reach, Schoop remained directly between R2 Kelly and second base, effectively preventing Kelly from touching second base. When Schoop tagged Kelly with the baseball while Kelly was off of his base, U2 Culbreth ruled Kelly out on the tag, prompting Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus to argue the call with Culbreth as resident lawyer and 3B Umpire Dan Bellino joined in the conversation before Culbreth affirmed his out call.

Question: Is this the proper call and application of rules? Was this a good non-call or should this have been deemed obstruction? If the call was improper, was it incorrect because of a matter of umpire judgment or an issue of misapplication or misinterpretation of rules?

This is a postseason Case Play, which takes a different form than an in-season CP. The postseason CP is more of a discussion in that the correct response will be provided. Participants may receive one UEFL point for this conversation. (Warning: Answer is Posted Below.)