It’s a toss-up. On any given night the worst umpire in the MLB is either Ángel Hernández or Joe West – period.

Oh sure, there are a handful of other so-called professional umpires who occasionally make egregious errors on calls that often change the outcome of a game, but Ángel Hernández and Joe West are, hands down, the worst of the worst.

On Monday night during the Dodgers / Diamondbacks game at Chase Field, a game with enormous playoff implications for the Dodgers, it was Joe West’s turn.

The problem is, for as utterly incompetent as the 65-year-old / 42-year veteran MLB umpire usually is, he didn’t blow the call, in this case a called second strike to Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson by Dbacks right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano which was, quite frankly, a great pitch – a 92.3-mph four-seam fastball that was knee-high on the inner half of the plate.

Every baseball fan on the planet is very well aware that 65-year-old veteran umpire Joe West frequently blows calls. But there is zero doubt whatsoever that he rightfully called this pitch to Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson a strike. For reasons that only he knows, Pederson thought otherwise … and in no uncertain terms, he let West know accordingly. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

With the count now 1-2, Hirano’s next pitch was an 84.7-mph split fastball that was not only off the plate, it was also in the dirt – a pitch that Pederson swung at horribly – for strike three.

As Pederson turned and began to walk away, he could (very) clearly be seen shouting something to the effect of ‘thank you’ (if you get my drift). And even though the 26-year-old Dodgers outfielder wasn’t looking at West when he shouted it, the was zero doubt whatsoever as to whom it was directed.

It took but a fraction of second for West to immediately eject Pederson from the game which, of course, caused the young outfielder to turn around and really let West have it; all this before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could reach home plate to (try to) save Pederson a considerable chunk of change.

Although it is pure speculation as to exactly what Pederson shouted, he had clearly crossed the line and was ejected for obscene language over a strike call that was unquestionably a strike.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

By all appearances, Roberts attempted (in vain) to make an argument that perhaps West was a little quick on the ejection trigger. But that ship had long since sailed and all the Dodger skipper could do was return to the dugout or risk being ejected (and fined) himself for something that was, in this rare instance, not Joe West’s fault.

The Pederson-less Dodgers would go on to defeat the Dbacks by a score of 7-4 to remain a game and a half ahead of the Colorado Rockies (who also won) in the NL West standings. They did, however, shave another game off of the so-called Magic Number, which now sits at five, with five games remaining in the regular season.

For those looking for some sort of moral to this story, the best I can come up with is to share something that my father told me – several times – as a youngster:

“Son, you missed a perfect opportunity to keep your mouth shut.”