Jeff Passan’s Yahoo column, expanding on his tweet from yesterday, holds back no punches in blasting Joe West:
West carries the reputation as a poor umpire and grudge holder, and so his unceremonious tossing of Guillen and Buehrle surprised no one. West called a balk on Buehrle, whose pickoff move is recognized as one of the game’s best. It was a suspect-at-best call, or par for the course, and he tossed Guillen for protesting. When West flagged Buehrle for another balk – just a flat-out bad call – the pitcher, disgusted, softly flopped his glove on the ground. West ejected him, too.
Following the game, Guillen ranted like Guillen does: F-bombs in triplicate, and a few more words that would have made George Carlin proud. Buehrle’s reaction was far more telling. Rarely outspoken and always measured, Buehrle took to West with an incisive jab that showed what people inside the game think of him.
“I think he’s too worried about promoting his CD,” Buehrle said, “and I think he likes seeing his name in the papers a little bit too much instead of worrying about the rules.”
Buehrle, as Passan says, is normally very soft-spoken. But he is absolutely correct here. West is likely to be made an example.