Joe West vs. White Sox

[kcfan102]

Who cares if an umpire is noticed or not? The fact that Joe West has the gonads to step up and make a very unpopular decision on a very popular pitcher, he deserves whatever press he gets and thats not shameful. In my opinion, at least. People (players, coaches, announcers) are just cry babies, everyone of them.

[ukce1861]

Who cares if an umpire is noticed or not? The fact that Joe West has the gonads to step up and make a very unpopular decision on a very popular pitcher, he deserves whatever press he gets and thats not shameful.

I don't disagree with that. I guess my point wasn't really regarding the OP, just more about the, "A good umpire is an unnoticed one" school of thought. Obviously, from time to time, an umpire will make a controversial call and be noticed by everyone. But, by and large, before I was an umpire, I never left a game saying, "Man, that umpire was really on tonight, wasn't he?"

[kcfan102]

I think what it is, is that the average baseball fan thinks the umpires are good for nothin old ball players. I think the average fan would love to blame a teams loss on the umpire. Fans love to hate them. People like Mike & Mike's (comedy) show and all the other esteemed members of the press are going to hop on every "anti umpire" train leaving Chicago, just so they can sell their papers, get those ratings, and put THEIR name out there. Since people love to hate the umpires, they eat it all up.

[Mr Umpire]

I don't disagree with that. I guess my point wasn't really regarding the OP, just more about the, "A good umpire is an unnoticed one" school of thought. Obviously, from time to time, an umpire will make a controversial call and be noticed by everyone. But, by and large, before I was an umpire, I never left a game saying, "Man, that umpire was really on tonight, wasn't he?"

That's b/c you didn't care about the umpires. The reason the "good" ones go unnoticed is b/c they didn't upset anyone. They got in, made their money(calls, many times, the easy one), and left. They didn't "ripple the waters".

The "bad" ones made a call which wasn't popular, whether it be balls which the "good" ones should not have been calling strikes but did b/c everyone else thought it was. No one knows if it was right. Only, he made a call they didn't like for one reason or another.

Now, you probably have a new prospective of what a "bad" umpire really is. Not the one calling strikes or safe calls just b/c it was "obvious" to everyone else. But, the ones who are not in position and do not have the right timing and do not know anything about the rules. Basically, your typical coach or fan attempting to umpire is now the "bad" ones.

This is a ridiculous saying which needs to go away. The "good" ones become very noticed when they don't know the ruling of something. Then, you will know who the "good" ones really are.

[mstaylor]

One more thought on the "not noticed" theme. Part of the logic behind it is some bad umps are guys that insert themselves into games with calls that shouldn't be made or rules that aren't real or horribly bastardized to either show their superior rules knowledge or their authority.

Examples are pulling a 20 second rule out in a smooth moving game or calling a no catch on an outfielder's third out catch because he was fooling around and threw the ball up a couple of times with his glove and then rolled it onto the infield.

The mark of a bad umpire that goes unnoticed is one that doesn't call the obstruction on a runner going around first. Or one that passes on a balk call to keep from causing waves. Either way there was never any complaint but still mistakes or worse passes because he wants to be a good guy.

We don't become officials to be popular.

[BrianC14]

So far, no one has responded to the fact that West has hired a publicist who has been soliciting interviews on West's behalf.

Can you say, "HORSESH*#" ???

[maninblack69]

I think Passan - while obviously opinionated - makes some fair points.

An MLB umpire with a publicist? And sending out e-mails to set up interviews?

That's over the top.

That's true. The publicist thing is a little over the top. I was just commenting on a few of the other things he mentioned throughout the article that caught my attention.

He seems to have forgotten the cardinal rule of umpiring: stay invisible.

I don't see why it's a cardinal rule to stay invisible. You have to manage the game and deal with situations as they come up. The right calls aren't always the popular calls and you have to deal with that.

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.

Obviously you can't show up the umpiring like that whether it was a bad call or not. He could have been dancing around the mound singing Christmas carols for all anyone cares, he's still going to be gone, especially after a second flare up.

I'm not saying that the article was bad, and he does make some fair points. I was just commenting on the fact of the above 2 instances (I'm sure there are more good points and bad points in the article) that he doesn't get it. :yippie:

[Mr Umpire]

So far, no one has responded to the fact that West has hired a publicist who has been soliciting interviews on West's behalf.

B/c I'm not concerned with it and apparently, no one else is either. He has one, big deal. Does it motivate his actions? Who knows. Does it matter to us while he is on the field? It doesn't to me.

Why should having one play any part in what is being discussed as far as baseball goes? But, the same can be said about the fines/suspensions and post game interviews. Once Buerhle started saying something about West's CD, I stopped listening. He was no longer talking about the situation and started going to personal attacks. At that moment, his point of view was worthless to me.

[kcfan102]

B/c I'm not concerned with it and apparently, no one else is either. He has one, big deal. Does it motivate his actions? Who knows. Does it matter to us while he is on the field? It doesn't to me.

Why should having one play any part in what is being discussed as far as baseball goes? But, the same can be said about the fines/suspensions and post game interviews. Once Buerhle started saying something about West's CD, I stopped listening. He was no longer talking about the situation and started going to personal attacks. At that moment, his point of view was worthless to me.

Well said.

[Rich Ives]

B/c I'm not concerned with it and apparently, no one else is either. He has one, big deal. Does it motivate his actions? Who knows. Does it matter to us while he is on the field? It doesn't to me.

Why should having one play any part in what is being discussed as far as baseball goes?

Uh - because that's why he got fined? He wasn't fined for the calls.

[Mike Prince]

Uh - because that's why he got fined? He wasn't fined for the calls.

Wonder why the announcement was "packaged" with the Buehrle/Guillen fines then? It appears that the calls had to have something to do with it based on the MLB announcement.

I had read other places on the internet speculation that Joe was fined for offering to give interviews for his comments earlier in the season regarding the Yankees/Red Sox. Seems like Joe just needs to shut up and umpire from a baseball perspective and do what he must to keep his divergent careers separate.

[Mr Umpire]

Uh - because that's why he got fined? He wasn't fined for the calls.

Getting fined had nothing to do with having a publicist. The actions of the publicist and West would be what got him fined, not merely having one. Which is why it has nothing to do with having one.