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| Managers like Joe Maddon won't be double-teamed anymore by umpires Angel Hernandez, center, and Joe West. |
It's far short of the firing both have long deserved, but at least their incompetence will be watered down some by working with three other umpires.
Besides the fact that West and Hernandez have an endless capacity for making bad calls, they both seem to revel in the power their position gives them. Photos of the two double-teaming to argue with managers are all over the web.
Once the screaming starts, they are too stubborn to walk away to defuse the situation. They'd rather get in someone's face and then toss the "offender" out. Just ask Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers who was ejected after his manager had pulled him for a new pitcher. Some lip readers say he said "horrible" to an ump on his way off the field. Touchy, touchy.
The old saying goes that the best umpires are the ones you don't notice. Joe West and his former running buddy Hernandez make too much news. Let's hope 2011 is the end of the line for both.
The worst umpire in baseball isn't either of them. It's Tim Tschida -- now that Bruce Froemming is gone. Tschida being hideously bad is one of the few things that Yankee Fans and Red Sox fans agree on. The guy's strike zone is like Nuke LaLoosh's pitching, kinda all over the place. But he makes up for it by being bad on the bases. Awful umpire. If he were any worse, he could get a job refereeing European soccer.
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