Joe West

[Lou B]

Joe West ejected the National's General Manager from the upper deck Luxury Box for not wearing a mask!

[BT_Blue]

once again... yes Joe is the CC and went to the dugout when Rizzo wouldn't leave. But for some reason, we don't want to credit Hunter (who Rizzo was bitching about) for being the one to turn around and tell him to leave. He even turned to the Atlanta bench and asked for stadium assistance.

[noumpere]

I've also read that it had far more to do with the comments Rizzo was making, and the mask was just the excuse.

[dumbdumb]

This guy has been abusing/ bullying umpires for years with altercations. With only a slap on the wrist because he is special, do you know who I am?, and basically no repercussions, he continues. Obviously he would say he is being bullied (some players etc. say a missed call is disrespecting them) by umpires due to missed calls, so they are even. You bully me, I bully you, no harm, no foul. Until commish grows some intestinal fortitude, he will continue to abuse and bully. I am just sticking up for my players/team/organization so we don't get pushed around by umpires making bad calls. Go ahead, call me out, I don't care. I will do whatever I want to do. You cannot stop me. His attitude and bullying seem to be working in his favor so far, so why stop now.

Seems like he needs to show some intestinal fortitude and hire a staff that gets tossed all the time so he will not have to, and let them do his bidding for him. Obviously he is having too much fun doing the abuse and bullying.

What a tool and embarassment, nor will owner step in and demand he stop.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29812877/major-league-baseball-umpire-joe-west-never-missed-call-just-ask-him

[SeeingEyeDog]

I cannot believe I am defending Joe West but...here goes...

As I said in the Ejection Fantasy League forum where this was also posted, MLB umpires are hearing players', managers', coaches', med staffs' and especially team executives' voices at a level of clarity not seen since the earliest days of baseball when crowds were small. There are no fans right now so, static directed at umpires even from many rows up can easily be heard. We have seen many inactive players and others off the field of play get ejected this season.

Rizzo is chirping Joe West on judgement calls...repeatedly. That is a textbook formula for an ejection. I don't care who is umpiring that game...an ejection is absolutely warranted here. It's a no brainer.

Now...as for the PPE mask situation. Let's be clear. Let's be real clear here. Joe West did NOT eject Rizzo for not wearing a PPE mask. The only reason Rizzo caught West's attention was because he was chirping him. Upon identifying who was chirping him, West then noticed that Rizzo also wasn't wearing a PPE mask (as required by MLB's COVID protocols!) and added that to the list of charges stemming from the ejection. This was totally an "Oh, by the way...he also was not wearing a PPE mask..." situation. So, you have Rizzo chirping an umpire on judgement calls and he is not wearing a PPE mask. Either of those is an ejection-able act. Not because Joe West has an axe to grind but, because league officials have told the umpires to administer the game that way. They have a rule book for the chirping and a supplemental 2020 COVID protocols and regulations document.

Nothing to see here...

~Dog

[BT_Blue]

@SeeingEyeDog, he was taking shots at Hunter Wendelstadt. He was the first to turn around and tell him to go.

[wolfe_man]

Yes, Hunter is the one who had the EJ.  Joe is the CC and backed his guy up and then took it to the next level to get him EJ by saying "no mask".  If he couldn't get the EJ one way, then he found something he could enforce.

Rizzo sounds like a real piece of work.

[dumbdumb]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29812877/major-league-baseball-umpire-joe-west-never-missed-call-just-ask-him

[wolfe_man]

10 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29812877/major-league-baseball-umpire-joe-west-never-missed-call-just-ask-him

Good article with lots of good info for umpires & baseball fans in general.   Love him or hate him, I think most baseball fans would love to sit down and spend an afternoon with him.  He's just a likeable guy as a human being.