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Umpire Joe West sues former New York Mets C Paul Lo Duca for saying he took bribes

A retired New York Mets catcher finds himself in a defamation lawsuit for something he said earlier this year.

In April, Paul Lo Duca claimed that major league umpire Joe West took bribes from former Mets closer Billy Wagner. Lo Duca made this claim in a podcast for The Action Network.

Lo Duca said that in a game around 2006 or 2007, he saw that West was being very lenient with the strike zone when Wagner was pitching. When Lo Duca asked Wagner what the deal was with West being easy on him, that’s when Wagner explained.