Bob Brenly piles on to recent Joe West bashing, blasts the umpire's 'priorities'
Following Saturday’s ejection, Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said of umpire Joe West, “Everyone knows he’s terrible,” and former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly lent credence to that statement on Tuesday, suggesting West isn’t just quick with his trigger, but bad at his job, too.
During a break in the action in Arizona’s 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, West confronted a cameraman whose lens had ever-so-slightly protruded over the Chase Field fencing. That’s when Brenly, now working as a color analyst for the D-Backs, chimed in with a real zinger:
"It's amazing he can see a camera leaning an inch over the railing but he misses strikes by 6 feet." — Bob Brenly on umpire Joe West. pic.twitter.com/PyKULMHH1U
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) September 26, 2018
“It’s amazing he can see a camera leaning an inch over the railing,” said Brenly, “but he misses strikes by six feet.”
Call the fight. Brenly wins in a TKO. But he wasn’t done throwing jabs:
UPDATE: "Priorities. I guess it's just all about priorities," Brenly adds in the 6th inning. "What's the most important thing you can do as an umpire? Is (it) to make sure the cameras are where they're supposed to be? Wait." pic.twitter.com/NPz08PAwkR
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) September 26, 2018
West came into Tuesday’s game having issued three ejections in as many days, tossing Anderson and White Sox manager Rick Renteria on Saturday before throwing out Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson on Monday, further fueling his reputation as an ump who likes to put himself in the center of a game.
Following Anderson’s ejection, he criticized West for staring him down multiple times and instigating a reaction after he merely asked whether West had seen someone grab his leg during a replay review.
Now comes Brenly, who implies that West isn’t so great at ball-and-strike calls, either, which really makes you wonder what redeeming umpiring qualities players and managers might find in West.
This is not the first time Brenly, who was no fan of umpires as a manager, has criticized an ump as a broadcaster. Back when he was working Chicago Cubs games a handful of years ago, he took aim at C.B. Bucknor, telling his listeners, “If a hitter had as much problems at the plate as C.B. does behind it, he’d either be in the minor leagues or carrying a lunch bucket somewhere, but every year there he is.”
Brenly has long been a proponent of automating ball-and-strike calls, but that would rob us of the gold that is the Diamondbacks broadcaster ripping umps with “Saturday Night Live”-worthy zingers.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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