20 Fill-In Umpires Promoted Full-Time to The Show

Baseball announced a hiring spree of big league fill-in umpires today, who virtually have a combined 100 years of experience calling games—and that number could well be north of the million-games mark when factoring in their global officiating work. Most have additional postseason experience, and nearly all have worked at least one World Series.

20 Umpires Were Added to The Show.

Some of the umpires have already been scouted by big league broadcasters. For instance, Eric Karros described one umpire's plate calling as, "[having] a bit of a reputation as having a fat strike zone, but I don't think that really applies to all corners. Also, I've been told that he's pretty consistent with what he does and doesn't call."

Regarding a second, Karros said, "'Ferg,' as he's known amongst baseball people, really does call a good game back there. He might reward a pitcher for a good location every once in awhile, but most of his calls seem to be spot on."

Click here to see them in action.

The newest additions to the baseball umpiring staff include the following umpire crews:
Crew A
» Carl Dixon
» Freddie Ferguson
» Joe MacDonald
» Eric Summersgill

Crew B
» Ed Drummond
» Woody Keller
» Earl Hendricks
» Clyde Washington

Crew C
» Mike Fillmore
» Jerry Hillsdale
» Kenny Janzen
» Rusty Valentine

Crew D
» Ricky Holliday
» Dave Lawrence
» Darryl Parker
» Matthew Ross

Crew E
» Larry Bullard
» Patrick Johnson
» James Kingsley
» Gary Simmons

Happy April Fools' Day!