Posted on 08/09/2017 3:04:57 AM PDT by SMGFan
Joe West said in June that Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre was MLB’s biggest complainer. Now the veteran umpire has been given something about which to complain: a three-game suspension for those comments.
As reported Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times’s Bill Shaikin, who cited information from the World Umpires Association, the MLB commissioner’s office gave West the ban for creating an “appearance of lack of impartiality” toward Beltre and the Rangers. The union said that West, who was set to umpire a Dodgers-Diamondbacks series in Phoenix, began serving his suspension Tuesday.
West’s remarks were published by USA Today in a June 20 article pegged to his 5,000th MLB game. The 64-year-old West, who began working major league games in 1976, became just the third umpire to reach that mark, after Bill Klem (5,369; 1905-1941) and Bruce Froemming (5,163; 1971-2007). Under a section titled “Biggest complainer,” West was quoted as saying, “It’s got to be Adrian Beltre. Every pitch you call that’s a strike, he says, ‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!’ I had a game with him recently and the pitch was right down the middle. He tells me, ‘That ball is outside.’
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Thirty years ago, an ump could have said this and no one would have said a word. In today’s world...everyone is hyper-sensitive and can’t handle criticism of any type. At the rate things are going....ballplayers within the next five years will demand ‘safe-spaces’ where they go to during a game, and be able to demand sensitivity training for umps.
Agreed. You wonder if the late Ron Luciano is watching this from the ball field up in the sky shaking his head in disbelief. Particularly when you read his books with his accounts of legendary feuds with Earl Weaver and other managers and players.
Joe West has a habit of making it about himself.. People don’t go to games to watch him.
You know....if Weaver or Billy Martin were around today...they wouldn’t last more than a season because of the sports media and current trends.
West has always been a distraction. Huge ego for an umpire. Doesn't the AL/NL do psychological screening as part of the selection process? If not they should. Then a knucklehead like West would not be infecting the game for 30 years.
Ah, the umpire that loves to call balks that no other ump will touch.
He especially like to call on Mark Beurhle and now Justin Verlander is his favorite target.
Probably they both declined to purchase his country & western CD.
Unlike the NFL, MLB are serious about showing a legitimate product.
majority of ballplayers are prima donnas and couldn’t deal with working in the real world for the rest of their lives..hall of fame my ass, 3000 hits?...big deal...grab a shovel, go to school or serve your country....and if it aint the US....FOFF
You should hear what the umpires in my senior softball leagues have to put up with from all the players.......LOL!
Sad to see MLB has gone snowflake.
Ozzie Guiilen didn’t last more than a season, but he said he liked Fidel Castro.
Call ‘em like you see ‘em... but remember the instant replay is a double edged sword.
Personally I think umps should treat their craft in the same respect as devout martial artists view their weapons (i.e. weapons should be felt, and not seen).
Sorry, but the feeling is that if he said it about a white player, no suspension would be forthcoming. Major sports have to show how politically correct they’ve become.
If I got paid Beltre’s salary, there would be no possible umpire remarks that would anger me. I would be laughing all the way to the bank.
I miss the days of old when the players drank and smoked in the dugout tunnel when they weren’t on the field.
I remember when he got into a big dust up with Joe Torre once.
Umps are supposed to appear unbiased. Declaring a player the biggest complainer doesn’t appear unbiased. Of course in typical MLB form the suspension is a joke amount, for a 162 game season 3 games off is nothing. And given the gap between the story and the “punishment” I’d lay odds he’s “suspension” falls during their normal 2 week vacation.
You forgot the sarcasm tag. Until the MLB gets rid of all the “my strike zone” umps they do not show a legitimate product.
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