NEW YORK — Joe West, the major leagues’ senior umpire, has been suspended for three days for comments he made about Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre.
In a USA Today report published June 20 timed to coincide with the umpire’s 5,000th regular-season game, West said “it’s got to be Adrian Beltre” when asked who was the biggest complainer in the major leagues.
“Every pitch you call that’s a strike, he says, ‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!’ I had a game with him recently and the pitch was right down the middle. He tells me, ‘That ball is outside,”’ West was quoted as saying.