What happens when an umpire has it out for your manager? It's no secret that umpire Joe West does not like Ozzie Guillen. It's also no surprise that Ozzie Guillen was ejected by Joe West. That would've happened even if Joe West was in love with everything Ozzie did.What happens when an umpire's hatred for your manager influences his decisions against your team? Then you have a situation that happened today.
Joe West called two balks on Mark Buehrle. Then, right after the second balk (and an inning after Ozzie Guillen was ejected), Joe West ejects Mark Buehrle.Yes, Mark Buehrle. Also known as the calmest person in baseball. What could Mark possibly have done to incur that sort of wrath? He picked up his glove.
Mark had to be roped off by umpire Angel Hernandez. For anyone who has followed the career of Mark Buehrle, you know that Angel did not have to do that. Mark seemed to be more shocked and inquisitive than anything. Do you really think Mark would have rushed Joe West? I think not. Angel was just following protocol and I can't fault him for that.
I had planned to do a long post about West, Buehrle and Guillen, but Wronged Man Out posted her story first and it pretty much summed up what I was going to say. Read Melissa's excellent post here.
Shouldn't there be a check and balance system in place with umpires? Shouldn't they strive to make the correct decision, no matter what their personal feelings are?
Joe West has infected the MLB with his showboating and "me first" attitude for awhile. Joe used to be a very competent umpire, who was one of the best in the business. Now he is a pathetic hack, who would rather bring attention to himself by making a spectacle of himself and a mockery of the game, in order to promote his singing career.
Umpires are only human and they do make mistakes. That's one of the many beautiful aspects of baseball. There's a difference between making a mistake and having a personal vendetta. There was so much outcry over Joe West's actions today, "Joe West" became a trending topic on Twitter. If that doesn't tell you that there's something seriously wrong with Cowboy Joe West, I don't know what to tell you.
Retire, Joe West, and focus on you. That's obviously what you do best. Write a country song about how you were wronged. Curse Ozzie Guillen all you want in your downtrodden country songs. It might make a better hit than your recent umpiring.
