Joe West Makes Another Scene

Joe West has done something new to get some media attention. I blogged about what he did last time, when he made some comments about the Red Sox and the Yankees being an embarassment.

This time, Joe West had some comments about Mark Buehrle and Ozzie Guillen after West ejected both of them in a game earlier this week. The ejections were probably deserved, in that Buehrle was demonstrative in protesting calls on him about balks. It's somewhat understandable he was upset, because in video (at least in my opinion) they really do not look like balks, and it's the move Buehrle has ALWAYS had. Guillen was ejected arguing about the first balk.

These two ejections are not really what bothers me. Instead, I am bothered by the fact that Joe West always seems to feel the need to come out and make comments following things that happen in games. I can really not think of any other umpire who does this. While I understand to a degree, because both Guillen and Buehrle attacked West stating that he was just looking for publicity to promote his CD (West is also a country singer) and also saying that he just likes seeing himself in the media. West's decision to reply THROUGH that very media, in some ways shows that Guillen and Buehrle were right. And just for the record, I don't frequently agree with Ozzie Guillen. While what West said was not exactly inflammatory, and he was just sticking to his story stating that he did nothing disrespectful and was not trying to promote himself, the fact that he allowed himself to even be interviewed about it in many ways should not be happening. They should be his calls, and it should be that.

It doesn't help that there are also rumors going around that Joe West has a publicist, and also a schedule available to his fans of what games he will be umpiring, something else that violates the rules of umpiring.

It should also be noted that the MLB is investigating the incident, because they also seem to be a little tired of West's actions. It should be interesting to see what happens.