Las Cruces man is among umpires for World Series

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A veteran Major League Baseball umpire from Las Cruces is on the officiating crew for this year's World Series pitting the Washington Nationals against the Houston Astros.

It marks the first time in 51-year-old Doug Eddings' umpiring career of two decades in the big leagues that he's been tapped for World Series duty.

"I'm extremely excited to do it," Eddings told ABC-7. "It's amazing. I'm still on cloud nine."

Eddings was the first base umpire for Game 1 of the World Series in Houston on Tuesday night. He's expected to be behind home plate for Wednesday's Game 2.

Eddings, an alumnus of Mayfield High School and New Mexico State University, began umpiring Little League games at the age of 14, and in his early career he worked throughout the minor leagues for roughly ten years.

He started working American League games in 1998, and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. In the postseason, he's umpired at various All-Star games and playoff series -- including this year's NLDS.

Eddings has worked a couple of very notable games over his career. He was the home plate umpire for Cal Ripken Jr.'s final major league game on October 6, 2001. He was also the second base umpire for the game between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres on August 4, 2007, when Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron for first place on the career home run list by hitting his 755th.

Eddings still resides in the Las Cruces area with his wife and family, and he enjoys golfing and motorcycle riding when he's not behind the plate calling balls and strikes.

If he was not an umpire, according to his official MLB biography, Eddings said he would want to be a Secret Service agent.