Not to defend Joe West, but that statement seems bass-ackwards. If you think he's a disgrace to the umpiring profession, then it seems to me that you should list the ways that he is rather than challenging others to list the ways that he is not.

+1

As advocate for Mr. West, . . .
 

Okay, here goes.

On this play, fly ball to outfield with 1 out and R2 and R3, U2 goes out to cover the catch. U1 Joe West leaves his A position to cover the tag-up at second, and continues to observe R2 as he overslides third. U3 was blocked by R2 in seeing the overslide tag, but signals safe. Might Joe West, however, had a perfect angle from about 75 feet away. OC Dusty Baker asks U3 to go for help and U3 agrees to do so and initiates a conference. Joe West joins his crew near third. U3 admits he had a bad view of the overslide tag, U2 and PU say they did not see it well either, but Joe West says he saw it clearly and that R2 was clearly off the bag when tagged a second time by F5. U3 agrees, decides to change his call, and says so to his fellow crewmembers. Crew chief Joe West then signals the out, heroically taking the heat for U3. R2 discards his helmet in disgust at being properly called out and Joe West properly ej's him.

What a perfectly exemplary umpire! I rest my case.

I would have preferred U3 to signal the out, but presumedly it happened as per above, because no one has shown, and no participant has complained, that Joe West either called the conference or made the out decision.

It's not about this call, okay? Where do you guys get this stuff? Where in anything I wrote did you get that I was blasting him for this specific call, and not his general game?

Here are my exact words:

Nothing specific, just Joe West's a disgrace to umpiring. They got that right.

AND,

I love the game and I love umpiring and I respect both immensely. So how could I possibly approve of Joe West and the manner in which he defames both the game and the umpiring profession?

If he is not a disgrace to umpiring, I guess I am missing something. Try to list some of the ways that he is not a disgrace to umpiring, rather than condemn me for bringing it up, or assume I am biased against the guy personally, which I am not. As a person, I both liked and spent time with the guy in past years. But this is now, and he is now a disgrace to umpiring. There are literally hundreds of qualified umpires dreaming of a shot at a spot he is filling in a way that is a colossal embarrassment to the profession.

1. He's never said that the hands are part of the bat.
2.

You just saw the chance to take a shot at him then. Got it.

2. He has never ruled a player out for abandonment.

3. Isn't CB Bucknor or Angel Hernandez

4. Inventor, entrepreneur and union chief
5.

Wow! This thread is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY off topic from where it started.

5. As far as we know, doesn't hijack threads
6.

6. Grills a mean chicken breast.

7.

7. Has 2 country albums........
8.

8. Has not released a gangster rap album.

9.

9. Is kind to animals.
10.