The crankiest umpire in Major League Baseball was at it again Monday night, this time ejecting Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon in the ninth inning over a situation that surely could have been avoided.
After Jeremy Hazelbaker of the St. Louis Cardinals broke up Cubs pitcher Kyle Kendricks’ no-hit bid to leadoff the ninth, some Chicago players tried to have a mound visit to buy closer Aroldis Chapman more time to warm up. We see that all the time in baseball, and you would think West would be even more understanding of it after a guy loses a no-hitter with three outs to go.
Instead, West stopped Cubs catcher Miguel Montero in his tracks and told him not to join his teammates on the mound. That infuriated Maddon, who came storming out of the dugout to launch four-letter words at the man they call “Cowboy Joe.”
You can’t blame Maddon for being angry. West has a reputation for going on power trips, and not allowing a reliever more time to get loose is another example of one. Shortly after the incident took place, former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood retweeted a bunch of tweets mocking West. He then added some commentary of his own:
I just don't want him in the post season. Enough of the #JoeShow https://t.co/qPhEQ9u7nf
— Kerry Wood (@KerryWood) September 13, 2016
Ok I'm done. We all know he sucks. Good night.
— Kerry Wood (@KerryWood) September 13, 2016
Again, West is known for this stuff. He tosses players and managers out all the time (here’s another example), and oftentimes he is clearly looking for trouble. While you can understand him wanting to keep the game moving in that situation, there was no need to stop Montero like that and make a big spectacle out of it.
