As he closed in on his 5,000th game umpiring in the major leagues four years ago, I asked Joe West if he planned to hang around long enough to break Bill Klem’s all-time record.
“That’s a few years down the road,” West said, dodging the question.
So how long can you continue?
“Until these TV people get tired of looking at me,” he said. “My mother says it’s a great job because I wear a mask and I don’t scare the kids.”
Whether anyone is tired of looking at West, the veteran umpire is poised to set the major-league record for regular-season games umpired.
Sources said West will ump the series between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals at Guaranteed Rate Field starting Monday.
The Major League Baseball Umpires Association tweeted Saturday that West was three days from Klem’s regular-season record of 5,376 games, suggesting he’ll tie the mark Monday and break it Tuesday.
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Klem, who worked from 1905 to 1941, was famous for the line, “In my heart I never called a bad one.”
West, who has umpired in a record 43 seasons since 1976 and in 51 ballparks, is renowned for having been in the middle of more controversies than any umpire in modern history. He also doubles as a country singer known as “Cowboy Joe” and once was a featured performer at Gilley’s in Houston, where his reviews were considerably better than the ones he has received from players, manager and fans at those 51 parks.
Being one of the most polarizing figures in the game isn’t easy, and the record will be celebrated by some while others will use it as an example that umpires are accountable to no one.
West’s run-ins are legendary.
Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen once called him a “(bleeping bleep)” after being tossed from a game in 2010 for arguing a balk call against Mark Buehrle.
“Joe has been like that for a lot of years, and he’s always going to be like this,” Guillen fumed afterward. “I’m not going to change it, nobody is going to change it, but sometimes he thinks (bleeping) people pay to watch him (bleeping) umpire.”
After Buehrle was called for a second balk and dropped his glove in disgust, he also was ejected.
“He’s too worried about promoting his (country) CD,” Buehrle said later. “And he likes seeing his name in the papers a little bit too much instead of worrying about the rules.”
When West ejected former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon during a game in September 2016, former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood tweeted about West: “We all know he sucks.”
Former Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson once called West a “joke” and “an absolute disgrace to the umpiring profession,” but Harrelson later made amends with West and conceded he was “one of the greatest umpires I’ve ever seen.” Maddon also lauded West when he wasn’t arguing with him.
Back in 2015, West even ejected Atlanta Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski from a spring training game, though some surmised Pierzynski asked to be sent home.
“I think Joe asked for another catcher,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez joked after the ejection. “He said, ‘Let’s get another catcher in here.’ ”
West began his major-league career in 1976 and became a full-time umpire in 1978. He missed a couple of years after the mass resignation of umpires in a 1999 labor dispute, but he has been in the middle of arguments for the better part of 45 years, including some famous moments in Cubs games. He has umped in 322 games at Wrigley Field, the most of any ballpark.
In 1991 West ejected Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble for throwing at Cubs outfielder Doug Dascenzo as he ran to first on a suicide squeeze bunt, later calling it “a blatant display of unsportsmanship to deliberately hurt a player.”
In another incident at Wrigley that summer, West was bumped by Cubs star Andre Dawson after ejecting Dawson during an argument over a called third strike. Dawson tossed 15 bats onto the field, bleacher fans delayed the game by throwing cups on the field and Dawson was later suspended one game and fined $1,000 for “violent actions.”
In 2018 West followed Cubs shortstop Javier Báez a few feet back to the dugout in Philadelphia after calling him out on strikes, which Báez called disrespectful.
“They need to start talking to us like (we’re) humans because they’re not (doing so),” Báez said.
West has been in so many brouhahas, it’s impossible to list them all. He was once suspended three days for pushing Braves manager Joe Torre. He was suspended another game for grabbing the jersey of Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon after a confrontation on the day Papelbon grabbed his crotch as Phillies fans booed him off the field.
The National League once ordered West not to try to remove players from brawls after he reportedly threw a player to the ground “like a sack of potatoes” during a fight between the Phillies and New York Mets. And in 2017 West was suspended three days for telling USA Today that Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré was the biggest complainer in the major leagues. In opposing the suspension, the umpires union said Beltré agreed that West was just joking.
West also is able to poke fun of himself. He let the San Diego Chicken strangle him with a towel during a game at Wrigley in a staged act that entertained the crowd. In 2017 he told me he thanked David Ortiz during a plate appearance in Ortiz’s rookie season for replacing him as the “ugliest man in the game.” Ortiz said nothing, but years later, in his final game with West behind the plate, Ortiz congratulated West on once again becoming the “ugliest man” in baseball.
Love him or hate him, characters like West will be missed when plate umpires are replaced by automated umpires.
Just ask him.
“The beauty of baseball is that it’s not foolproof,” West once said. “You’ve got to hit a round ball with a cylindrical bat square, and then you’ve got to get it past people. The game is typically American. It’s always somebody else’s fault when they lose — and usually it’s us.”
MLB traditions that make the game unique
Presidents throwing the first pitch
The ceremonial first pitch is a baseball tradition that marks the beginning of the game. The first president to throw out the ceremonial first pitch was then-Governor William McKinley in 1892. The presidential first pitch on opening day was started by President William Howard Taft in 1910 at the Washington Senators’ opening day. But the first pitch looked different back then — it was thrown from the grandstands and not from the pitcher's mound. The first president to throw from the pitcher’s mound was Ronald Reagan at the Wrigley Field in 1988.
Seventh inning stretch
The tradition of the seventh inning stretch is one most baseball fans look forward to every game. The seventh inning stretch is the traditional extended break in between the top and bottom half of the seventh inning. The history of the seventh inning stretch is questionable. Some historians credit President Taft, who notably stood up to stretch his legs in the middle of the seventh inning in 1910.
The K’s
The use of the letter “K” as a reference to a strikeout in baseball started with sportswriter Henry Chadwick, who published rule books and annual guides and created statistics such as batting average and ERA. Chadwick used either the first or last letter of key words in his scoring scheme, using K to represent “struck out” because it’s the last letter in “struck.” Today, fans hang “K” signs after opposing teams strike out.
‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’
An event that has evolved from the tradition of the seventh inning stretch is the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” The song was written by Jack Norworth while riding a New York City train in 1908. The song gained popularity when White Sox announcer Harry Caray started singing it during the seventh inning stretch instead of the solo organist performance.
Bleacher creatures roll call
Bleacher creatures are New York Yankee fans who occupied sections 37 and 39 in the old Yankees Stadium and section 203 of the right-right bleachers in the new Yankees Stadium. The bleacher creatures have a tradition to yell the starting lineup during the top of the first inning while the Yankee players are on the field. The tradition started in 1998 when the bleacher creatures would announce the Yankees starting outfielders. When “Megaphone John” started orchestrating the roll call, he included the infielders by using his foghorn voice.
Rally caps
The first known rally cap was seen during the 1945 World Series when the Detroit Tigers flipped their hats inside out hoping for a rally against the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers magically started a comeback and ended up winning the World Series. About 40 years later, during the 1985 season, the New York Mets players donned rally caps and the fans started to copy the players. That’s when the baseball trend took off.
Cracker Jacks
The caramel-coated popcorn-and-peanut snack known as Cracker Jack has been served at baseball games since 1896, according to historian Tim Wiles. The snack wasn’t served at an MLB game until 1907, one year before Norworth included the snack in the lyrics of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Keeping score
Sportswriter Henry Chadwick, the creator of baseball statistics and scorekeeping, designed the first scorecard grid. Chadwick’s original scorecard was nine batters deep and nine innings wide. Chadwick used codes to indicate what the batter did and which fielder handled the ball. Most of Chadwick’s scoring codes, such as the “K,” are still used today. Keeping score has become a tradition for baseball fans to follow and be a part of the game.
Brewers’ sausage race
The sausage race at the Milwaukee Brewers game started as a virtual race on the scoreboard at County Stadium. When the Brewers moved to Miller Park, the virtual race was thrown out in favor of actual sausage costumes. The sausage race now consists of five sausages (brat, chorizo, hot dog, Italian sausage and Polish sausage) running from the left field foul pole to home plate. The Italian sausage is the all-time winner through September of 2020.
National anthem
The first documented American sporting event to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” was a baseball game in 1862 during the Civil War and before the song was labeled the national anthem. The tradition of playing it before games gained popularity during World War II.
Throw it back
The tradition of fans throwing back home runs hit by visiting players started with Chicago Cubs fans. Any Cubs fan who caught an opposing teams’ home run knew to throw it back onto the field. The tradition dates back to 1969 when a fan in the bleachers caught a ball hit by Hank Aaron and chucked it back onto the field because of a rejection of trying to return a ball to Aaron a year earlier. It didn’t help that it was a crummy year for the Cubs.
‘Sweet Caroline’
The tradition at Fenway Park is to play Neil Diamond’s recording of “Sweet Caroline” prior to the bottom of the eighth inning during every home game. The tradition began during a 1997 game when a Fenway employee in charge of ballpark music played the Neil Diamond hit because she knew someone who recently had a baby named Caroline. The song found a permanent home in the bottom of the eighth inning when Charles Steinberg became the Red Sox executive vice president and suggested it become tradition.
Opening day in Cincy
Teams often switch between home and away every opening day, but not the Cincinnati Reds. MLB opening day is always in Cincinnati. It’s not an official baseball rule, though it is a tradition. The Cincinnati Reds have started every season in Cincinnati since 1876, and it’s because of the weather. According to Reds historians, Cincinnati is always the opening city because it is a southern city.
Angels’ rally monkey
The rally monkey is a tradition started by the Los Angeles Angels in 2000. In a game against the San Francisco Giants, the video board operators played a clip of a monkey jumping up and down along with a clip from Jim Carrey’s “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” In the ninth inning, the operators played the clip again with the words “rally monkey” above it. The Angels completed a comeback and the rally monkey remained a fixture.
McCovey Cove
The section of the San Francisco Bay beyond the right field wall of Oracle Park is known as McCovey Cove after Giants first baseman Willie McCovey, who routinely hit home runs into the water. Fans started to line their boats and kayaks waiting for the next home run to splash into the water. Even though the body of water was named after McCovey, the area was made popular by Giants’ legend and home run king Barry Bonds, who hit 35 baseballs into McCovey Cove.
Presidents race
Similar to the Brewers’ sausage race, the Washington Nationals designed their own version of the race. Instead of sausages, the Nationals race four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. The race became a team tradition on July 21, 2006, in the middle of the fourth inning. If the game goes into the 13th inning, the presidents get suited up and race again. Teddy Roosevelt is the all-time champion with 35 wins.
W flags
The original W flag affiliated with the Chicago Cubs didn’t mean “win” until 1938. Before that season, the W referred to Wilmington Transportation Co., a company purchased by William Wrigley Jr. The Cubs continue to fly the W flag when the Cubs win a game to let passengers on the “L” train know if the Cubs won or lost that day.
New York Mets home run apple
The New York Mets added the home run apple to Shea Stadium in 1980. New team owners were looking for ways to attract fans back to the stadium after a long stretch of losing seasons. The Mets encased the home run apple in an oversized top hat in center field, and the apple would appear from the hat after a Mets player hit a homerun. The apple became a staple in Mets tradition. When the team moved into Citi Field, the apple found a new home but the tradition continued.
Houston Astros home run train
Train tracks were installed 90 feet above the field at Minute Maid Park in 2000. A 15-foot-high and 56-foot-long replica of an 1862 steam locomotive makes a 40-second trip back and forth on its track every time an Astros player hits a home run. Every time an Astros score a run, the train sounds its bells and whistles.
‘OK, Blue Jays’
The seventh-inning stretch at Rogers Centre in Toronto doesn’t play the typical “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” The Blue Jays have a signature song called “OK, Blue Jays” that plays during the seventh inning stretch. The song was first released in 1983 by Canadians Jack Lenz and Tony Kosinec.
‘Big Mac Land’
The St. Louis Cardinals named left-field section 272 “Big Mac Land” as a tribute to former first baseman Mark McGwire. Whenever a home run is hit in that section, everyone at the game is entitled to redeem their ticket for a free Big Mac at all participating McDonald’s.
The Ivy
When baseball fans think of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, they often think of the ivy on the outfield wall. Cubs president William Veeck planted the ivy against the brick outfield wall in 1937. The ivy has made an appearance in Wrigley Field every season since, and even has its own rule. If a ball is stuck in the ivy, it is an automatic ground-rule double.
