Joe West sets umpiring record in White Sox-Cardinals game
Love the game, hate the umpire.
It's a popular sentiment for fans of major-league baseball, and no one knows that better than Joe West.
Few, if any, umpires have been loathed more, but give West credit for longevity.
Working behind the plate in Tuesday night's game between the White Sox and Cardinals at Guaranteed Rate Field, West set the MLB record by umpiring his 5,376th career game, passing Bill Klem on the all-time list.
The 68-year-old "Cowboy Joe" got his start as a major-league umpire in 1976.
Sox fans of a certain age likely remember a game in May of 2010 when West, who was at first base, called Mark Buehrle for 2 balks at Cleveland. Buehrle and then-manager Ozzie Guillen were ejected.
"I think (umpire) Jim Joyce said it best," Buehrle said after the game. "As an umpire you don't want to be in the media and controversy but there are some people that, I guess, enjoy being in the middle of stuff."
West has never shied away from the spotlight, but Tuesday was no time for ill will.
Even former White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, a frequent critic, gave West his due.
"In all of my parts of eight decades in this game, the two umpires I have respected the most have been Joe West and Nestor Chylak," Harrelson said Tuesday from his home in Orlando, Fla. "They control a game and that's what a good umpire does. Are they going to miss calls? Sure. Just like hitters miss hanging sliders and curveballs."
Harrelson said any feud with West ended in 2012 when he discovered the umpire was dealing with throat cancer.
"I said, 'Joe let me tell you something. I don't mind arguing with you, I don't mind fighting you. But one thing I cannot have you do is getting sick on me,'" Harrelson said.
Sox manager Tony La Russa has had more run-ins with West than most, given his 34 seasons in a major-league dugout. That hasn't tainted his respect.
"Very consistent," La Russa said. "I always thought he was fair in the sense that sometimes (a manager) goes out there and flares up right away, gets upset and they hold it against you. Very impatient. Joe would give you some room and then he'd let you know enough is enough."