Joyce & Galarraga Team Up

Jim Joyce made the wrong call a year ago,
but now he has a book out
with pitcher Armando Galarraga.

Maybe now I have seen it all. Umpire Jim Joyce and pitcher Armando Galarraga have teamed up to write a book about Joyce's blown call that cost the hurler a perfect game. I know Galarraga famously accepted Joyce's apology, but I never imagined a day when a player would be co-author with an ump who messed up.

I'm not against anyone peddling his story for a buck (I'm a laid-off journalist who wishes he had a great story to sell), but "Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History" opens the kinds of issues that baseball seems to have trouble dealing with.

In this case, ESPN reports that Joyce will not work any games in which Galarraga pitches. That's fine. For now, it won't matter; Galarraga has been sent to the minors by the Arizona Diamondbacks (his gem last year was tossed for the Detroit Tigers). But is it so easy to ensure that bias doesn't enter Joyce's calls?

Suppose Galarraga makes a triumphal return to Phoenix and helps keep the D-Backs in the division race. If Joyce works any of the team's games, is it unreasonable to think he might be unconsciously pulling for his writing partner to get to the playoffs? After all, they have a relationship that goes beyond the field, and the more attention Galarraga gets the more books might be sold.

By all accounts Jim Joyce is a very good umpire. The players voted him the best, and that was after he blew the call last year. I don't think he'd intentionally make calls based on his business deal. But I do believe baseball has opened a can of worms by allowing an umpire, who is supposed to be impartial, to go into business with a current player.

This is not the first time baseball has fallen short when it comes to the appearance of impropriety. When Randy Wolf, lefty starter for the Milwaukee Brewers, pitches, his brother, Jim, an umpire, is not allowed to call ball and strikes.

But somehow baseball has decided it's OK for him to work the bases in those games. That means he could have to make a call on a close call involving his sibling. Baseball really doesn't see a problem with that?

If it were up to me, Jim Wolf would work only American League games. That way there'd be no suggestion of bias. Baseball likes to take grand stands against perceived bias. Pete Rose was banned for betting on his team. That's all well and good. But it needs to be consistent in making sure any hint of bias is quashed.

In these cases involving umpires it has fallen well short of the goal.

Joe West: The Power Mad Ump

Joe West is used to tossing managers and players.

NOTE: Joe West keeps showing off his incompetence. On May 17 he called a runner out for leaving the bag early on a fly ball. This post shows how wrong he was. And see my new post on Phil Cuzzi, another incompetent ump. And sometimes umps need a fair shake.

If the mark of being a good umpire is never being noticed, then Joe West has to be the worst umpire ever. When it comes to consistently bizarre decisions, he's e only major league arbiter who comes to mind. I guess if he wants to be noticed, he is a spectacular success.

The latest incident involving West came on Friday night after a balk was called on Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox. Because a balk call is often contentious, it wasn't a surprise that Sox manager Terry Francona cam out to argue.

What happened next is being reviewed by commissioner's office and likely will end up with Francona suspended. Francona was arguing with Angel Hernandez, the ump who called the balk. As the argument heated up, West moved in between them and used his hands to push Francona away. The bumps between the two continued until Francona finally headed to the dugout, tossing his chewing gum at Hernandez as he walked away.

It's debatable whether West instigated the bumping, although Francona certainly thinks so. It's hard to give West the benefit of the doubt considering his history. Search YouTube and there are a disturbing number of games where things get out of control. Back in 1991, Cubs fans poured garbage on the field after West's extra wide strike zone caused Andre Dawson to erupt.