NEW YORK -- Umpire Joe West has sued Paul Lo Duca for defamation after the former catcher alleged West gave pitcher Billy Wagner a bigger strike zone in exchange for letting the umpire borrow a vintage car.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, West contends Lo Duca said during an April 18 podcast on The Action Network that he had been ejected 15 times during his major league career -- and eight or nine had been by West.
The complaint says Lo Duca claimed in the podcast that Wagner told him the reason he got three straight strikeout calls from West during a New York Mets game against Philadelphia in 2006 or 2007 -- with Lo Duca catching -- was because the pitcher had allowed West to drive his 1957 Chevy.