NESO'S TAKE ON SPORTS

Joe West is regularly one of my least favorite umpires. He’s like that teacher you had in school who is ridiculously strict about everything you do, but cannot do those same things himself. West complains about long game times, as he called the Sox – Yankees game “Pathetic and embarrassing,” going on to say that they were “a disgrace to baseball”.

Laugh with me.

Red Sox and Yankees are a disgrace to baseball? OK. So the two best teams in the league are what’s disgracing it?

What many people don’t know is that West is a major contributor in these admittedly lengthy games. He made CC Sabathia change shoes in the second inning because they weren’t the Yankee blue, instead matching the gray of his uniform.

Similarly, Marcus Thames had to change the wrist on his tape for the same reason.

In the past, Joe West has had a history of making small problems become major. At one point in 1995, the Mets third base coach Bobby Wine brought out the lineup card two minutes too late, and West was angry at him.

Initially, the bench coach thought he was joking, but got upset when he realized that Joe was angry at him, eventually getting ejected.

Next, the Mets manager Dallas Green, standing up for his third base coach, got tossed. Joe West turned a two-three minute delay into one lasting 22 minutes.

Well, enough about Joe West’s problems with lengthening games. The Sox and Yankee players may not agree a lot, but they were certainly able to come together on this one.

I don’t know if he got fined or whatever, but if we ever called an umpire pathetic and embarrassing, it would be the end of the world. We’d get fined and we’d deserve it. ~Kevin Youkilis

Does somebody have dinner reservations? We’re playing baseball. It’s not a timed game. There’s not a shot clock. … If those guys have an issue with that, it might be time to pick a new profession or talk to the umpires’ association about not working any more Yankees-Red Sox games. ~Dustin Pedroia

It’s incredible. If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls? … He has a job to do. He should do his job. ~Mariano Rivera

You can’t control the time. You can’t do one thing because every game is different. … If it’s 20 minutes shorter, it’s not pathetic or embarrassing? At what point is it not embarrassing? You’d have to ask him. If you go over 3:12, it’s embarrassing? ~Derek Jeter

We’re not going to ask our hitters to change their approach to speed the game up. … We’re trying to win games, not trying to see how quick we can play. ~Joe Girardi

“Have you ever gone to watch a movie and thought, ‘Man, this movie is so good I wish it would have never ended.’ That’s like a Red Sox-Yankees game. Why would you want it to end? If you don’t want to be there, don’t be there. Go home. Why are you complaining. I’m not going to sit somewhere I don’t want to be. If you go to a movie or any entertainment event and you like it, you’re going to stay and watch and you’re not going to want it to end. If you don’t, then you won’t. Why is it such a big deal?” ~Jonathan Papelbon

Not only was Joe West out of line in his comments, he was also blaming the wrong thing. As Jacoby Ellsbury and even Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire put it:

The biggest thing is the TV. [Nationally televised games require 2:25 for commercial breaks every half inning, roughly 30 seconds longer than a NESN or YES game, which adds about 10 minutes to every game.] I’ll go up for an at-bat, and I’ll have to wait a minute and a half. … Leading off a game, I don’t know how many times I’ve had to wait. The pitcher is ready, I’m ready. ~Ellsbury

Over three hours is pretty much normal in baseball. You want to cut it out? Cut out the 2:25 between innings for TV. See if that’s going to happen. Ain’t going to happen, right? That’s where they make their money. ~Gardenhire

Not only do people enjoy watching these tight, intense games, but calling the two best teams in baseball a disgrace? It’s frustrating that West can’t get fined for this.

To be completely honest, there was one thing that was pathetic and embarrassing, as well as a disgrace to baseball, during the series.

The balls and strikes calls were atrocious.

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