I have a problem with umpire Joe West. He seems arrogant, makes stupid comments to the media, and generally proves the rule that if you hear the umpire's name, something's gone wrong. But tonight in the Blue Jay/Rays game he surprised me and did the right thing. After calling Rays runner Sam Fuld safe on a tag play at first West realized the he may have been blocked and asked for help from the other umpires. After a confab Fuld was called out as he was tagged by Adam Lind before touching the base. While further replays showed that the runner probably should have been safe I have to applaud West for asking for help in the first place. Umpires are fallible and while he was in good position to make the call on the force play he did look like he was blocked on the tag play.
Unfortunately, West's brief foray into maturity quickly evaporated during an argument with Rays manager Joe Maddon, who came out to argue the overturning of the original call. While watching the argument I counted at least three times when West stepped towards Maddon as Maddon stepped back. West was also repeatedly pointing at Maddon in an aggressive way during the argument. Hopefully he was saying something to the effect of, "We're just trying to get it right. Don't you want us to get it right?" but his body language was inappropriate for a profession that should go unnoticed as much as possible. Arguments between managers and umpires are a part of the game but there's no call for an umpire to be anything but professional in such a situation. His place is to be above the histrionics of the players, manages, or fans and by his dispassion embody the mission of an umpire: impartiality and accuracy. While both goals are impossible to achieve with perfect consistency a good umpire strives for both in all of his actions, from calling balls and strikes to dealing with those who disagree with him.
Follow the new @RotoSavants tweet account.
