Joe West calls two balks on Mark Buehrle and then ejects him, a breakdown

May 28, 2020 1.8M views 3:14
MLB Baltimore Orioles 2020

What Happened

Jomboy revisits a May 2010 game between the White Sox and the visiting Indians, smack in the middle of what he calls peak Joe West attention-seeking. West called a balk on lefty Mark Buehrle's pickoff move to first, then watched Buehrle draw a line in the dirt to mark where his foot had been. That show-up brought out manager Ozzie Guillen, who got tossed for arguing. An inning later, on another Buehrle pickoff attempt, West rang up a second balk and ejected Buehrle himself. West was later fined by the league for the whole episode.

Why This Matters

The balk rule on lefties is one of baseball's grayest calls, and Buehrle's pickoff was famously deceptive and legal for years. Two balks in two innings from the same umpire on the same pitcher is the kind of thing that screams more about the official than the player. West, the all-time leader in games umpired, had spent 2010 doing radio hits and calling the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry pathetic, a clear breach of umpire neutrality. The league's fine here was effectively a public correction. For the White Sox, losing both ace and manager early in a getaway game in the middle of a pennant push had real cost. The episode became a lasting example of an umpire inserting himself into a broadcast he was supposed to be invisible in.

At 1.8M views this sits at #134 of 1583 breakdowns, landing in the top 8.5% of everything Jomboy has made.

Key Moments

Related Breakdowns

Who / What Is Involved

Players: Joe West, Mark Buehrle, Ozzie Guillen. Teams: Orioles.

Joe WestMark BuehrleOzzie Guillen

Key Terms Mentioned

EjectionManager EjectionUmpire Controversy

Full Transcript

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we're going back to 2010 and this was

peak Joe West pretty Madonna mode he was

doing radio shows he was calling the

Yankees and the Red Sox pathetic he was

giving his opinions to the public like