The Most EGOTISTICAL Umpire In Baseball

It's widely known that Angel Hernandez is the worst and most hated umpire among the players, coaches, and fans of baseball. Lots of the reasons why that is the case is in a video I made called The Worst Umpire in Baseball History. In this video though, we're going to talk about someone who isn't necessarily the worst umpire who makes calls worse than anyone else, but more so has the biggest ego out of them all. Take a second to like this video, and if you're new to the channel and end up enjoying this video be sure to hit that subscribe button for future baseball content. Joe West has a pretty high reputation, and it's either good or bad depending on who you ask. He's currently president of the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, and as the organization's president, West played a huge part in negotiating the largest umpiring contract in baseball history, and he works with a sporting goods company to design and get umpiring equipment endorsed by Major League Baseball. West is also a singer and songwriter and has released two country music albums, and had a small acting role in the comedy film The Naked Gun from the Files of Police Squad, along with a cameo appearance in the television crime drama The Oldest Rookie, and also plays golf on the Celebrity Players Tour. Whether you love him or hate him, you can't deny that Joe West has accomplished a whole lot in his life. Although that is true, there have been plenty of controversial things done by West throughout the years. From making controversial calls, controversial comments, getting in the way of plays, grabbing players by their jersey, and more, Joe West is a big and well-known name when it comes to umpires around the league, mainly because of his ego. Back in 2010, West sparked controversy by criticizing the slow pace of the recently completed series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, a series in which he called quote-unquote pathetic and embarrassing. Red Sox manager Terry Francona referred to the remarks as troubling, and Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said, and I quote, if he has places to go, let him do something else. Columnist Wallace Matthews defended West, saying that he was just simply expressing what people have been thinking for a long time. West was not fined by Major League Baseball for his comments, but was admonished firmly according to press reports. During that same year, West made two controversial balk calls on Mark Burley, and ended up ejecting the White Sox manager and Burley for throwing his glove. Four years later, on September 14th, 2014, West ejected Jonathan Papelbon for the inappropriate act of adjusting his groin while walking back to the dugout, resulting in a confrontation where West literally grabbed Papelbon's jersey. You can't do that. Major League Baseball subsequently suspended Papelbon for seven games for his inappropriate gesture, along with West for one game for initiating contact with Papelbon. West later defended himself, and claimed that Papelbon had initiated the first contact, but Major League Baseball determined that the video replay showed West was not correct, and that the contact was actually initiated by West. Then a few years later, on August 9th, 2017, West was suspended for three more games after saying that Adrian Beltre is the biggest complainer in the game. West went on to tell Beltre that he was just joking, and Beltre himself even defended West, saying that the suspension was unnecessary. West definitely isn't afraid to show up pitchers if he feels that they are disrespecting him. In a game between the Giants and Padres, Madison Bumgarner threw a pitch he thought was a strike, did not get the call, proceeded to yell, only for West to start a stare down with him, one that would actually last for a while before catcher Buster Posey had to get involved. In a matchup between the Tigers and Twins in 2015, Torrey Hunter was at the plate with a couple runners on base and his team down four in the ninth inning. On an outside pitch, Hunter tried to check his swing, only for West to say he swung for strike three to end the game. Hunter was not happy, going up in West's face, and later saying this after the game. I think he had dinner reservation or a concert to play in, but that was terrible. We come out and do our job every day, that's what I do. I come ready to play, do my job, I battle at the plate. We ask you to do your job as well, and Joe West needs to do his job, and he didn't do it well. Joe West also kind of got into the way during a playoff game at Fenway, so if you needed a laugh, here you go. In 2020, Joe West was part of the umpiring crew who ejected Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo. He was up in a suite. Umpire Hunter Wendelstad stopped the game and began pointing up toward the stands behind home plate and someone could be heard on the broadcast saying, quote unquote, you're done, you're out, call security. West, who wasn't the home plate umpire but was part of the crew chief, was later seen walking toward the dugout and shown on a phone with security to remove Rizzo from the ballpark. You then have the defamation lawsuit that West filed in New York on October 22nd, 2019 against former Major League Catcher Paul LaDuca and Action Network over comments that he made on a podcast in April of that year. On the podcast, LaDuca recalled his teammate Billy Wagner telling him in 2006-2007, quote unquote, Joe loves antique cars, so every time he comes into town I lend him my 57 Chevy so he can drive it around so then he opens up the strike zone for me. In the complaint, West denies this and says he has suffered unspecified damages as a result of LaDuca's comments. West declared in his lawsuit that LaDuca's comments damaged his integrity and character and threatened to severely damage his chances of being voted into the Hall of Fame. As of early 2021, a resolution to the case was found and Joe West was awarded $500,000 plus interest by the New York Supreme Court in the lawsuit against former player Paul LaDuca. Joe West has lived a long life and has accomplished a lot, both good and bad. He's definitely not as bad as Angel Hernandez, but he definitely has a big ego. West, like many umpires, does not like to take criticism from players and coaches, but he definitely is at the top of umpires who like to take the least criticism. West even had this to say after ejecting Mike Rizzo last year, who was up in the suite, quote unquote, I wouldn't take that from a player, I wouldn't take that from a manager. If it was Donald Trump, I'd eject him too, but I'd still vote for him. 2021 is going to be Joe West's final season as an umpire, so his long reign of pissing people off is coming to an end. I don't necessarily mean that in a disrespectful way though, as every umpire gets people angry, but at the end of the day, as much as he's accomplished in his umpiring career, whether you love him or hate him, Joe West is the most egotistical umpire in baseball. If you want me to keep making videos on umpires, suggest some in the comments that I should talk about, and thank you so much for watching.