Why Was Joe West Only Suspended One Game?

The Vine above is everything you need to know about this incident wrapped up in seven seconds.

Let's start off with a quiz. Name as many Major League umpires as you can in 10 seconds. Go.

I managed to come up with Angel Hernandez, C.B. Bucknor, Dan Bellino, Jim Joyce, and Joe West. Why did those names come to mind so quick? Because they're all terrible.

Now, Joyce has been exonerated since he ruined Armando Galarraga's perfect game, but he is still a name that sticks out. When an umpire can get through a three-game series without most people knowing his name, not only has he done his job, but he has done it damn well. Umpires are responsible for facilitating the game, not dictating it.

As for those other guys... Hernandez nearly got a standing ovation during a game...after he had been hit by a line drive. Bucknor doesn't know how an out should be recorded and makes third strike calls on strike two. Bellino once threw out Adrian Beltre for joking around with his former teammate Felix Hernandez.

But let's focus on West for a minute. Sunday afternoon, the Phillies were enjoying a three-run lead going into the ninth inning when they brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon. Pap isn't the most well-liked guy in Philadelphia, never mind throughout baseball, so when you give up four runs in front of the hometown crowd and go on to lose the game, the walk back to the dugout isn't going to be a stroll in the park. So because Papelbon is an idiot, he decided to forgo even a sarcastic hat tip and just go straight to the crotch grab. His explanation is gold, though.

"This is baseball. I had to make an adjustment and I did it, and by no means am I directing anything at any fans. When I'm out there and in the moment, the fans are irrelevant to me. I don't see them, I don't hear them. To me, this is pretty stupid to be totally honest with you."

Not sure if it helps that he called the fans irrelevant...

Papelbon was suspended seven games, which was a combination of the ridiculous gesture and getting a little too close to West during the ensuing argument. We've seen some players in the past make some questionable contact with umpires, but why is there such a gap between penalties for the player and the umpire?

West received just a one-game suspension after he grabbed Papelbon by the jersey and brushed him off to the side when he decided he didn't want to hear what the already-ejected hot head had to say. Papelbon deserves the seven games, there is no doubt about it, but why is it that West can grab a player and get off virtually scot-free?

Cowboy Joe has had a history of hogging the spotlight, over the years, and has repeatedly been voted one of the worst umpires by MLB players. His actions Sunday can just be tacked on to the ever-expanding list of reasons why umpires need to be held more accountable for their actions. If umpires can't be ejected, why are they allowed to get in the faces of players and even initiate the arguments?

The league is giving them free range to handle the situations as they see fit, and if grabbing a player's jersey means the umpire "handled himself appropriately," as MLB VP Joe Torre phrased it, then the problem is only going to get worse.  Baseball needs to start analyzing the incidents that lead to these heated exchanges, identify who could be considered at fault, and hand out equal punishments, regardless of position within the game.

Not In Favor of Replay, But Something Needs to be Done About MLB Umpires

As expanded replay is being heavily considered in the game of baseball, the umpires sure are making a great case for its approval.

A new expanded replay system is being tested using camera and radar-based technologies to identify the truth behind fair or foul calls, and can even conclude whether a player is out or safe at first base.  Many are opposed to the new system, allowing human error to be a part of the game.  But a little too much leeway has been given of late, and maybe its time for a change.

“It would take a lot less time to go look at a replay than to go out and argue a call,” Mets manager Terry Collins said, “so why not get it right?”

It has been an issue for years, but this season, it seems like now more than ever Major League umpires are attempting to take over the game of baseball, exercising their will over games with idiotic calls and quick ejections.  And there are plenty of examples to back this up.

Does anyone remember the call made in early May by umpire Tim Welke during a Dodgers-Rockies game at first base?  Rockies first baseman Todd Helton picked the ball as Jerry Hairston Jr came across the bag, but the problem was, Helton was a good four feet off the bag.  Misfortune befell the Dodgers again on Thursday when Angel Campos tossed Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp for, as Kemp says, saying "let's go 'Dre" to Andre Ethier who was at the plate. (Listen to the video, you can tell Kemp doesn't say anything worthy of getting sent packing, yet Campos tosses one of the best players in baseball in the second inning because he can.)

Not enough evidence for you?  Alright, we'll keep going.  That same Thursday afternoon, A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy came off the front of the mound to make a nice sliding catch on a popped-up bunt, but home plate umpire Laz Diaz immediately ruled it a trap.  You can watch the video a million times, in no way does that even look like a trap based on how his glove is turned and how the ball landed in there.

Fine, but just one more.  Friday night, during the Orioles-Tigers game.  Jhonny Peralta grounds a ball to third, rookie sensation Manny Machado throws a laser to first baseman Mark Reynolds who, after watching the replay multiple times, makes an amazing tip-toe-on-the-bag diving pick for the out.  But then the impossible happens.  The umpires reversed the call.  They reverse an out call at first base.  Can that even happen?  Reynolds slams his glove down, and the second base umpire, feeling neglected that no one is yelling at him, immediately takes action, giving Reynolds the hook.

In all of these instances, expanded replay would help tremendously.  Umpires wouldn't be calling ridiculous strikes that are practically in the other batter's box, they wouldn't get a simple 5-3 putout horribly wrong and act like they're omniscient when someone argues.  I am adamantly opposed to expanded replay, but if this is what we're in for with Major League umpires for the remainder of this year and the future, something needs to be done.  And fast.