The Umpires - When is Enough Enough?

[Bulldog19]

Major League Baseball really needs to do something about its umpires. "Crew N" has 3 of the worst umpires in all of baseball. The 4th guy I've never heard of, but the other three you see right in the middle of controversey all the time. Tonight they were at it again up in Milwaukee. Schrieber runs the pitching coach for looking at him funny and then Old Country West runs the manager for standing up for his pitching coach.

Another one for you: This crew had the Cardinals over the weekend I believe. The broadcasters made a comment about Joe West on the TV broadcast. And got a phone call from Joe West either that night or the next day! Mind your own business and pretend to be a decent umpire!

This crew is a complete JOKE. It's time they make a change. If a player were to have these many issues, MLB would have nailed them already.

[metrotheme]

Bill White paints Joe West as a loose cannon in his book "Uppity" from the time he was president of the NL.

He talks about the 1990 incident when Joe West for slamming Philadelphia pitcher Dennis Cook to the ground while breaking up an on field brawl.

[ol' aches and pains]

Joe West is an embarrassment to Major League Baseball. Last year he called two balks on Mark Buehrle, who had balked exactly once in the previous three years. Buehrle hadn't balked and he knew it, and when he dropped his glove on the ground in frustration, West ejected him. In my opinion, West manufactured these bogus Buehrle balks to get at Ozzie Guillen, whom he has a history with. In his postgame press conference, Guillen said "Joe West is a &%)$&(% &*##&%", an opinion I agree with completely.

[Sirmudgeon]

I rarely pay attention to umpires, other than remark that they generally do a pretty decent job, especially on plays that are reviewed (the live-action call is usually right). When one does make a mistake, like the one that cost Galarraga a perfect game, he owns up to it.

Then there's Joe West. He is the one umpire whose name I know and distrust, whether it's an ever-evolving strike zone which changes by pitcher, by batter, by what he had for dinner the night before, by whatever, or with on-field run-ins (he always seems to be the one not in control), or even with general surliness of attitude- this guy takes the cake. He's like that NBA ref, Crawford I think, who clearly has his own axe to grind, or that NFL ump with the tight shirts and big biceps and love affair with the camera (I think his name is Hochuli), these guys should not be stars in their own little game. They are paid to officiate, not dominate.

I don't pay enough attention to individual officials to know their names, nor do I want to know their names. I just want them to apply the rules fairly and even-handedly, without personal agendas. That I know of West by name is, for me, a ringing denunciation of his performance. He's like a high-school science teacher who umps on the side and settles personal scores with various kids. He's a detriment.

[Dick Groat's syndrome]

Crew G has Angel Hernandez in addition to Joe West. Both are awful.

[ol' aches and pains]

He's like a high-school science teacher who umps on the side and settles personal scores with various kids. He's a detriment.

Exactly. West allows his personal animosities to dictate his decisions on the field. It's been going on for years, and it's obvious to even a casual observer. I don't understand why he's still getting away with it.

[Bulldog19]

I'm waiting for the day that somebody break's Joe West's hand. Here he is with the "stop sign" again...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14472175

[Sirmudgeon]

I'm waiting for the day that somebody break's Joe West's hand. Here he is with the "stop sign" again...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14472175

Lightning-quick hook, but even though he was out of position on the play, he made the right call initially. In this instance, even though all his other flaws are evident, he did get the call right. At first.

[Bulldog19]

What I loved about that clip was the "stop sign." He always pulls that out after doing something stupid himself. He doesn't want to hear it from the coach because he knows he blew the call, but he won't take the heat.

[Stumanji]

What I loved about that clip was the "stop sign." He always pulls that out after doing something stupid himself. He doesn't want to hear it from the coach because he knows he blew the call, but he won't take the heat.

I'll cut him some slack on that one. He made the correct call initially, then his appealed to his crew to be sure he made the right call. All it takes is one or two of them to say, "I don't know, it looked like he got him."

Ultimately, it's the original umpire's call to reverse it (courtesy, I believe) and he did, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any peer pressure in the conference.

[quagmire]

West did it again by getting involved in something he shouldn't have with Francona........

[Bulldog19]

West did it again by getting involved in something he shouldn't have with Francona........

Yep and I'm guessing Francona will get suspended for it too. But Joe West will keep on standing on the field..

[Dogdaze]

West did it again by getting involved in something he shouldn't have with Francona........

Here’s some quotes from Francona and a video of the incident with Joe West;

“Joe, as we all know, always wants to be in everybody's business," Francona said of West. "That was me and Angel. Joe didn't have anything to do with it. Didn't appreciate what he did. I think he was wrong."

When asked about West getting physical, Francona reiterated his stance.
"He was grabbing me," he said. "I didn't appreciate that. I thought he was out of line."

http://soxanddawgs.com/redsox/video/...ed-5-6-11.html

[Bulldog19]

Francona will get fined for his comments after the game too. It's a joke..

[RubeBaker]

It's stupid that they can't argue a balk call. In this case, Francona had a legitimate beef. Wakefield definitely made a full step towards third, then turned to first and doubled off the runner. Like the announcers said, how was it that Angel made the call and not the third base umpire?

Francona gave his spiel and looked like he was ready to walk off when West got in the way, literally. I only hope that West gets fined and or suspended for getting involved in an argument he had nothing to do with.

The most egregious case of bad umpiring has to be from 2 years ago, when Ed Rapuano threw Shane Victorino out of a game from center field after calling a ball to the hitter.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=6014957

Of course, this is the same Ed Rapuano who charged Dave Bush on the mound last year when Bush didn't like the call. Rapuano is another waste of space.

[ol' aches and pains]

Joe West needs to be put out to pasture. Let him croon his country songs till the cows come home, but for heaven's sake, get him off the baseball diamond. The man is an embarrassment.

[Bulldog19]

MLB needs to fire him already! How long do we have to put up with this BS?!?!

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14690335

[GiambiJuice]

Are MLB umpires unfireable because of the union? I assume they are.

Bowa is spot on in that clip.

[ol' aches and pains]

Are MLB umpires unfireable because of the union? I assume they are.

Bowa is spot on in that clip.

The stuff with West is bad enough, but hardly surprising. The incident with Mattingly and Mike DiMuro is surprising to me. For DuMuro to first admit he isn't 100% sure of his call, and then refuse Mattingly's request to ask another umpire is inexcusable, in my opinion.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

When asked about West getting physical, Francona reiterated his stance.
"He was grabbing me," he said. "I didn't appreciate that. I thought he was out of line."

Francona should have turned around and popped West in the head. Or, better yet, kicked him in the nads.

[DownUnderDodger]

The stuff with West is bad enough, but hardly surprising. The incident with Mattingly and Mike DiMuro is surprising to me. For DuMuro to first admit he isn't 100% sure of his call, and then refuse Mattingly's request to ask another umpire is inexcusable, in my opinion.

Moving a little off the topic, and encroaching on another topic, Mattingly made an interesting point in that in the incident in question, an instant replay would have taken much less time than all arguing that went on, and the correct decision would have resulted. The same would have applied in the Francona incident. It may even see the demise of umpires like West when they know their decisions will be under more scrutiny.

[Bulldog19]

Here's another video where they talk about altercations over the last week or so..

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14747287

An umpire man-handles a manager and gets no penalty. A player makes incidental contact with an umpire and gets suspended. Wake up MLB!

[Michael Green]

I am an admirer of and sympathizer with umpires almost all of the time. West was, as he often is, out of line, MAINLY for this reason: Angel Hernandez is a nearly 20-year veteran. If the umpire Francona wanted to question had been a rookie, the crew chief often will step in to protect him. Some crew chiefs don't step in, believing that a newer umpire has to take some heat, but they don't let it escalate. West escalated it himself.

The Mattingly-DiMuro business surprised me, and for a few reasons. One, DiMuro is a good umpire. Not only that, he is the son of another fine umpire, the late Lou DiMuro, and by his account he said something like, "How often are any of us 100% sure of anything?" No. They teach you from the outset in umpire school not to say something like that to give wiggle room for an argument. Two, Mattingly doesn't have a reputation, so far as I know, as a whiner or anything like that. Managers who make silly arguments--the classic was Earl Weaver--would get no slack. There's a story about Walter Alston about the time he stepped out of the dugout and called over the umpiring crew--and they came over to him! He had their respect.

Rapuano is widely regarded as one of the best umpires in baseball, and deservedly so. The Victorino footage reminded me of something the late, great Jocko Conlan once said. He said a player who had been ejected would say, I didn't say a word, and Conlan said, oh, but if they knew what he DID. Rapuano may have thought Victorino gave him the finger, for example. That doesn't mean Victorino did. But I notice that fans, writers, and broadcasters display this incredible ability to know exactly what was said in an argument, and 99.9999999% of the time, their knowledge favors the player or manager over the umpire. Well, I think of the umpire quoted in a recent book as saying that maybe the steroid revelations will make people understand why umpires had to get a bit more physical in recent years, because players were foaming at the mouth.

[Sirmudgeon]

Foaming at the mouth? Now, that's funny. Well-written and concise commentary, and right on point. Though West is largely panned by observers of the game as well as participants, I wonder how much is due to the 24-7 availability of coverage via the Net and various cable channels? A fellow can't even pick his nose in private anymore without seeing it televised worldwide, it seems. We as fans/viewers/observers are able to dissect and interpret, or misinterpret, every move made by another person (be they public figure, sports icon, someone on their honeymoon, driving the kids to school in sweats, with a stain on the shirt, with a bad hair day, etc.). On the whole, I think most umpires/referees/game officials, down to grade school level, try hard and do a darn fine job.

Then there's Joe West. He might have been a decent ump at one time, now he's a short-fused egoist. Union or not, there ought be a review board after so many egregious incidences.

[Richard]

I detest umpires who have the strike zone of a postage stamp and do not keep the game moving at a good pace. They should be promoted and demoted like the players.