In the Majors with all those folks around, I would not have picked it up at all. I would not do that in a amateur game either. At least that is how I would have handled it.

Peace

It seems as the only people defending Joe West in this are other umpires. I have not heard one non-umpire who has not taken Joe to task on his handling of the situation. Not just the announcers, writers and fans, but all non-umpires.

And this surprises you? This is very typical of all situations involving officials. Just look at the NBA situation the other night. Officials never get a pass on what they do even when they are completely justified. If they enforce a clear rule, these people will say "he does this all the time....blah...blah...blah." And it is mainly because announcers, writers and fans have in most cases have never had the courage to do this activity themselves. That is why so many get into officiating from other aspects of life and find out, "This was a lot harder than I thought."

Peace

does anyone have actual footage of these balk calls? I would like to see raw footage to determine for myself before I make comments either way.

Please do not resuscitate, for as from this moment on I've been officially bored to death.

You forgot to mention all the people that have bought his country albums.

Looks like the boyz at Head Office ain't happy with Country Joe.....

MLB plans showdown with umpire Joe West - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

More work for his PR people.....

Some of the things mentioned in that link are what bugs me about Joe West. It's not the calls or the ejections, it's the way he has handles himself off field. (And for the record, I'm not a baseball umpire.)

He had no business going on that radio show and talking about the incident with the White Sox. He's allowed to have an opinion about how long the Red Sox and Yankees take to play a ball game, but he should direct the comments to the commissioner's office and not the media.

An umpire should not be trying to gain notoriety by having a PR guy contact the media on his behalf. This is why the "inject himself into the ballgame" comments are said. Even if it is not his intention, it gives the appearance that he is trying to create some controversy so he can appear on another talk show.

Ya think the author doesn't care for Country Joe?
 

"Joe West is an infidel, an attention whore of Lady Gaga proportions whose proclivity for theatrics shames the umpiring profession."

Here's how he interprets the incident:

"West carries the reputation as a poor umpire and grudge holder, and so his unceremonious tossing of Guillen and Buehrle surprised no one. West called a balk on Buehrle, whose pickoff move is recognized as one of the game’s best. It was a suspect-at-best call, or par for the course, and he tossed Guillen for protesting. When West flagged Buehrle for another balk – just a flat-out bad call – the pitcher, disgusted, softly flopped his glove on the ground. West ejected him, too."

A scathing write-up! :eek:

I chuckled at that paragraph too. The "reputation as a poor umpire" is in the media only. Both Buehrle and Guillen acknowledged that he is "one of the best."

And the part you bolded was even funnier considering that practically everyone on this board and a few others I've been following agree that it was the more obvious of the two balks.

(And for the record, I'm not a baseball umpire.)

I just love the way the "talking heads" today really believe that just because they are capable and allowed to form words into sentences, that what they say is correct and factual. When it comes down to it though, we realize that the hot air expelled from their body orfice is indeed just that.

Until you have stood on that field and dealt with a good left-handed pitcher, with a great move to first, which is borderline each and everytime, then you don't have a clue. I am supporting Joe because I have seen it. Not at the MLB level which I will never work but, I have seen it at some semi-pro levels.

Your just like so many of the other talking heads. It ok for you to be critical but when the official defends hisself or gives it back to you then you whimper how unfair that is. Within the limitations of his contract (and Joe should know that), he has as much right to express hisself as you do, regardless how right or wrong you think it is.

My opinion is, Give us a break, go on a media forum.

I may not be a baseball umpire, but I do officiate. I never once said it was unfair. What I said was that when he goes to the media like he did, it gives the appearance that he is trying to create controversy in order to make his name known. If he wishes to defend hisself [sic], he can talk to the umpire association and/or commissioner.

And the players and coaches have no business talking to the media about the umpire either. They should go through the proper channels as well and keep their opinions about the officiating out of the media.

A) That's because only real umpires understand that both balks were balks ... and NONE of us would take a player throwing a glove down over one of our calls. B) It's also because the announcers have a pulpit, the umpires don't. The announcer went nuts over this - so everyone who heard him ... and everyone who heard those that heard him, and so on, think it was bad. Had the announcer said, "Yup, that's a balk", there would be no S-Storm over this.

Create Controversy? He didn't create squat ... the controversy is already there. Um ... his name is already known. Exactly why are you qualified to make the decision as to who he can talk to? Within the bounds of his contract, he can talk to whoever he wants. He has just as much right to discuss this call with the radio as Ozzie and Mark did with the TV.

While I might agree with that in principle, it just doesn't work out that way. It would be NICE if they didn't ... and then the umpire wouldn't feel compelled to go on the radio. But they did, and they will.

I noticed in the video that the first balk was called by BOTH West and the 2B umpire at approximately the same time. I doubt that Joe paid the other guy off just to settle a score with the White Sox.

Given the camera angle, I couldn't tell if others called the second balk. But since the balk involved a move toward the plate, the 1B umpire has the best view of that.