Joe West is retiring

[Zakath]

After this season's playoffs.

As much as he made the game too much about himself, he had one of the most consistent strike zones in baseball. And he's miles better than either Angel Hernandez or CB Bucknor.

https://sports.yahoo.com/controversial-mlb-umpire-joe-west-to-retire-after-breaking-record-for-most-games-193844024.html

[Lipman 1]

After this season's playoffs.

As much as he made the game too much about himself, he had one of the most consistent strike zones in baseball. And he's miles better than either Angel Hernandez or CB Bucknor.

https://sports.yahoo.com/controversi...193844024.html

All three should have been fired years ago in my opinion.

[KenBerryGrab]

I attended 2005 World Series game 1 with tickets Joe West left as a restaurant tip.

[longtimefan]

After this season's playoffs.

As much as he made the game too much about himself, he had one of the most consistent strike zones in baseball. And he's miles better than either Angel Hernandez or CB Bucknor.

https://sports.yahoo.com/controversi...193844024.html

I am no Joe West fan but he is better than Angel Hernandez but then again, that is not saying much. I think Hawk Harrelson and West are friends.

[notjimrose]

I am no Joe West fan but he is better than Angel Hernandez but then again, that is not saying much. I think Hawk Harrelson and West are friends.

Angel Hernandez is a bad umpire. Joe West is a good umpire who lets his ego get in the way of his better judgement way too often.

Hawk and West did strike up a friendship in more recent years, according to Hawk's last book.

[Lipman 1]

Angel Hernandez is a bad umpire. Joe West is a good umpire who lets his ego get in the way of his better judgement way too often.

Hawk and West did strike up a friendship in more recent years, according to Hawk's last book.

Agreed and I'd add he seemed to love forcing confrontations instead of doing what good umpires do, let the manager vent, say nothing and walk away.

[tebman]

I'll take the players' word on whether or not West was a good umpire. But as a ticket-buying fan I always thought he was an imperious attention hound, and I believed that even before 2010 when he called arbitrary balks on Mark Buehrle and then ejected him. He pulled players off the field like a bouncer, baited players with staredowns, told the players they were too slow for his taste, and otherwise made the game too much about himself.

If umpires need to be there, they should be invisible. The fact that I even know who he is tells me that he was intruding.

Ron Luciano, a hotdog of an umpire himself, wrote, "One reason I never called balks is that I never understood the rule." West seemed to have his own set of rules. It's an overdue retirement if you ask me (and I'm sure West would never ask).

[Bird Of Prey]

Joe West sucked as an umpire. Umpires should not be the "show" but this a-hole inserted himself as the "show" many many times.

[Paulwny]

Ron Luciano, a hotdog of an umpire himself, wrote, "One reason I never called balks is that I never understood the rule." West seemed to have his own set of rules. It's an overdue retirement if you ask me (and I'm sure West would never ask).

WOW, Ron Luciano, that's a name from the past, I forgot about him.

[WSox597]

Let us not forget the other member of the quartet, Laz Diaz. All four of them should seek other employment, the whole umpire thing ain't working out.

And Luciano with his book, The Umpire Strikes Back, started the whole "LOOK AT ME!!" umpiring style.

I won't miss West, I do wish it was happening before the playoffs before he gets to screw some other team, once for the road.

[Bird Of Prey]

Let us not forget the other member of the quartet, Laz Diaz. All four of them should seek other employment, the whole umpire thing ain't working out.

And Luciano with his book, The Umpire Strikes Back, started the whole "LOOK AT ME!!" umpiring style.

I won't miss West, I do wish it was happening before the playoffs before he gets to screw some other team, once for the road.

Its unfortunate that they bring these lousy umpires for the post season. Its bad enough during the regular season but when games really count, its really tough to watch.

[tebman]

Its unfortunate that they bring these lousy umpires for the post season. Its bad enough during the regular season but when games really count, its really tough to watch.

As a Christmas gift my son gave me Bill Ripken's book, "State of Play." It's a collection of Ripken's thoughts on how baseball is played, managed, and marketed, with each chapter covering a specific topic.

One chapter is devoted to umpiring. As a former player it would be easy for him to rant, but he doesn't. He acknowledges that eventually robot umps will happen, but until then he describes a great idea that would be easy to implement: designate specific umps for exclusive ball-strike duty, with the other three in the crew rotating through the bases. The ball-strike umps would be those whose accuracy level is above some figure, say 95%. MLB has all that data and has been collecting it for years, so they know who's good and who's not. People like Angel Hernandez wouldn't make the cut, but there are others who would, and there are more coming up whose accuracy numbers are high enough to be recruited for calling balls and strikes.

The idea makes so much sense that I'm certain I'm not going to see it in my lifetime.

[34rancher]

I attended 2005 World Series game 1 with tickets Joe West left as a restaurant tip.

I feel like this is too casual to let slide bye…I’d love to hear more of this story. Just sounds too cool.

[GoSoxMMV]

After this season's playoffs.

As much as he made the game too much about himself, he had one of the most consistent strike zones in baseball. And he's miles better than either Angel Hernandez or CB Bucknor.

https://sports.yahoo.com/controversi...193844024.html

Get electronic strike zones and we won't have to rely on ego-driven umpires like West for competence.

All three should have been fired years ago in my opinion.

Yes, but that would never be allowed by the union.

[soxfanatlanta]

He's now free to pursue his musical career - lookout Nashville!