Major League Umpire Joe West Suspended 3 Games For Calling Adrian Beltre The Biggest Complainer In The League
Joe West is not a very good umpire. In 2010, ESPN polled a random sample of 100 anonymous MLB players asking them who the worst umpire in the game was. CB Bucknor obviously took home the crown, and I don’t think there should even be a debate over whether or not he’s the worst umpire in the game. Regardless, he received 42% of the vote, while West garnered 40%. That was way closer than I would’ve guessed, but I think it also speaks to how well-liked West is amongst the players, and this was also seven years ago. I also highly doubt he’s improved his player approval rating throughout baseball clubhouses since 2010, either.
In an interview with USA Today, West spoke about a number of topics, including who he thinks the biggest complainer in Major League Baseball is.
“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.’
“I told him, ‘You may be a great ballplayer, but you’re the worst umpire in the league. You stink.’’
(West later clarified to USA TODAY Sports that he and Beltre are on friendly terms).
Without applying the context and comment clarification, is it me or do these comments clearly come off as someone who’s kidding? And obviously I say this as someone who isn’t a big fan of West’s work behind the plate, but it sounded like ball-busting and not some serious take on Adrian Beltre being a legitimate complainer. There are many whiny babies in Major League Baseball, and I’ve never known Beltre to be one of them. Despite that fact, the league took West’s comments seriously and suspended that ass.
Seems a little strong. I don’t know the language of any agreement that states umpires aren’t allowed to have opinions on players in interviews, but I’m sure it exists if the league had grounds to suspended Country Joe like that. Then we have Beltre’s response to the suspension, which was classy as always.
Even if Beltre did think that West was serious, I feel like he’d have this same reaction. He’s not a shit-stirrer, and he never has been. Even in that Rougned Odor-Jose Bautista fight, Beltre played the role of the peacemaker. If there’s a positive that comes out of this aside from Joe West not being behind the plate for three major league games, you can absolutely count on Country Joe using this experience as inspiration for a banger new country album.