Umpires ego?

[Trombone482]

http://chicago.whitesox.m...p;fext=.jsp&c_id=cws

 

 

I don't know if anybody has seen this, but everyone's favorite umpire Joe West was involved in another incident. The video pretty much tells the story. I seem to remember just last week or so, Joe being involved in a controversial situation during the brewers game. My question is it time for MLB to fire him? He is quite obviously letting his ego get in the way of doing his job. I know from previous experience that an umpire is not supposed be seen in the game but rather heard, if that makes sense. And lately it seems like some umpires stir things up just for the fun of it.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Wow. I hate Ozzie, and by extension, the White Sox, but that was ridiculous. Even if they WERE both balks, West's actions were inexcuseable.

[TooLiveBrew]

Whenever I hear about umpires either being bullies and/or flat-out stinking, I think of the quotes from Adrian Gonzalez earlier this season during the series with the Brewers at PetCo

 

Neither first baseman Adrian Gonzalez nor manager Bud Black were around to see Trevor Hoffman get his first save at Petco Park for someone other than the Padres.

 

Both Gonzalez and Black were ejected by plate umpire Rob Drake in the Padres eighth after Gonzalez was called out on a third strike that appeared to be well inside.

 

That was one of three disputed third strikes called by Drake against the Padres in as many innings, the first two coming with the tying run in scoring position.

 

“Sometimes you just have to stand up,” said Gonzalez, who was ejected for the first time from either a minor league or major league game in the United States. “If we’re bad, we get sent down. What happens to them?”

 

Drake ejected Gonzalez at home plate as the first baseman was being ushered back toward the Padres dugout by on-deck hitter Chase Headley. Drake ejected Gonzalez after pointing a finger at the first baseman.

 

“I didn’t say anything bad,” said Gonzalez. “I didn’t curse. I respect the umpires. But at the end of the day, that should have been ball three, no doubt in my mind.

 

“There were a number of pitches that we felt were off. It was frustrating for me, frustrating for all of us. We can’t expect them (the umpires) to be perfect, but sometimes you have to speak up.”

Link

[TooLiveBrew]

"He's becoming a joke, is what he's doing. He's becoming a joke to the umpiring profession." I have to say, for once I actually agree with Hawk Harrelson.

 

Guillen had some pretty accurate comments as well.

 

"When you are a professional, you have to respect the manager the way we respect the umpires," Guillen said. "The umpire is supposed to respect back, but obviously they have more power than we have. And we get aware every time it happens."

 

Everyone is aware of the problem, and MLB continues to stick its head in the sand. Frustrating. To be fair, the second balk call did look like a balk. I couldn't really tell on the first one, since there was no side angle. I can see why West ejected Buehrle for dropping his glove like that, but West was certainly the one that escalated the whole situation.

[Principessa21]

I read a report earlier today that said he will likely be suspended or fired, but we'll see. There doesn't seem to be much accountability. He is doing the Red Sox/Royals series this weekend so that might become interesting. I don't like him, especially once he made those Yankees/Red Sox comments so I would be happy to see him gone.

BTW, I liked Buehrle's comments after the game: "I think he's too worried about promoting his CD [West is a country music singer/songwriter with his own Web site], Buehrle said. "And, I think he likes seeing his name in the papers a little bit too much instead of worrying about the rules."

[SZBrewerFan]

Joe West is a clown, straight up. He deserves to be fired. Neither of those two moves were balks. If those were balks, that Chris Capuano would have balked every runner on first into home plate in 2006-2007. I give Buerhle credit for being as calm and collected as he was, and I think the glove "toss" was just out of pure disbelief. That was a personal attack by an umpire on a player/manager and if he isn't punished I will lose a lot of respect for MLB. MLB has a serious issue on their hands that they are turning a blind eye towards with regard to umpiring. While it isn't as controversial as the NBA issues its almost as bad.

[TooLiveBrew]

Good call on the quotation marks -- calling that a toss, or saying he threw his glove, really overstates things. He just dropped it off his hand.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

You know it's bad when most rational people would side with Ozzie. West is a clown. The egos on these guys are unreal. They should all be replaced with machines.

[Invader3K]

I don't see how MLB can't do something about some of these umpires. Maybe some of them have just been around too long and take their jobs for granted.

[brains and braun]

TLB, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said West escalated, or instigated the whole thing. I feel like that is the major problem, and umpires that do that should be fined or suspended the same as a player would be in the opposite situation.

[DatHoser]

Umpire inciting players - Rapuano and Bush comes to mind instantly.

[Buckylovesbeer]

SoCal - I agree they should all be replaced by machines.....but then there would be a lot more called strike threes, because the zone would be called where it should be called.

 

West was out of line, Rapuano was out of line........something big needs to be done!

 

Nice work all......there has been nothing written so far in this topic that I dont agree with

[Principessa21]

So West, Buehrle, and Guillen were fined and West is blaming the media for taking his comments out of context. He is just obnoxious.

[yfinn6]

You know it's bad when most rational people would side with Ozzie. West is a clown. The egos on these guys are unreal. They should all be replaced with machines.

Only part of the thread I disagree with. The umpires' mistakes and different strike zones are part of the game that both teams have to deal with. I agree with instant replay for homeruns, but would hate to see any more involvement from technology in umpiring games.

 

I do agree that umpires have been out of line for the last few seasons. They've really been jumpy with ejections, and in a lot of arguments the umps seem to be the aggressors.

[Gobias Industries]

West and Rapuano should both be fired. There's a huge problem when the umps believe they're bigger than the game, and that's been happening for a couple of years now.

[RightFieldCoder]

Umpires shouldn't have tenure. If they're bad, they should be sent down just like players.

[JohnBriggs12]

Umpires have huge egos. Look at Bruce Froemming. He retired 3 years ago, and his mug keeps showing up on Brewer broadcasts (thank whoever invented the mute button) and radio spots.

 

Anyone remember former NL umpire Dutch Rennert from Oshkosh? I go back to when Dutch was a minor league umpire in the summer, and a high school and college basketball referee in the winter. Even doing high school games (some of which I played in), Dutch thought he was the show. If he called a foul on a made shot, he would hold his arm up, run from under the basket all the way to the scorer's table, and then signify the basket counted with a dramatic arm motion. As a major league umpire, nobody was more noticeable than Rennert.

[trwi7]

Some of you may not like Haudricourt, but as long as he keeps churning out tweets like this, I'll be a fan.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I'm not sure why adjusting to inconsistent strike zones, even if called evenly between the two opposing teams, is part of the game. Just because that's always how it's been done and some are "traditionalists" doesn't make it right. The rules are very clear on what is and isn't a strike. Yet these umps have their own take on low or high strikes, are human or some just aren't very good (although to be fair most of them are). I respect the traditional view of the game, but I would love to see Mr. Fox Trax behind the plate. If the technology is available, why not get it right all the time? I sure don't watch the games to see some jerk like Joe West, Ed Rapuano or Phil Cuzzi.

[yfinn6]

I'm not sure why adjusting to inconsistent strike zones, even if called evenly between the two opposing teams, is part of the game. Just because that's always how it's been done and some are "traditionalists" doesn't make it right. The rules are very clear on what is and isn't a strike. Yet these umps have their own take on low or high strikes, are human or some just aren't very good (although to be fair most of them are). I respect the traditional view of the game, but I would love to see Mr. Fox Trax behind the plate. If the technology is available, why not get it right all the time? I sure don't watch the games to see some jerk like Joe West, Ed Rapuano or Phil Cuzzi.

Just how inconsistent are the strike zones? I've never read that inconsistent strike zones are an issue in MLB. The issues have already been discussed in this thread (umps with big egos, and the homerun vs double or foul ball).

[naivin]

Very glad that West was fined, and more importantly, that it was made public. More of that is going to be needed to deal with some of these guys.

[Ennder]

I'm not buying that the glove slipped off there btw. I'm not saying West was in the right here but I'm not really buying what Guillen and Buehrle are selling here either.

[logan82]

Wow, I can't believe this.

 

Earlier this week, Joe West’s personal publicist sent out a mass email

offering up his client for interviews

[Principessa21]

So Oswalt was ejected yesterday for showing frustration with the umpire's strike zone. Not only were those strikes, but he did not deserve to be tossed so quickly. A MLB official said that the umpire will be addressed "sternly." It's really becoming ridiculous.

ETA: After rewatching, eh, maybe they weren't strikes. But the situation still could have been handled better.

[Oldcity]

Umpires miss 10-15% of ball/strike calls. It's become so noticeable the last few seasons since this technology has existed. The sooner we have an electronic strike zone, the better.