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MLB fans put Joe West on blast after umpire reaches historic milestone

Chris Cwik
Staff writer
·2 min read

The umpire many Major League Baseball fans love to hate reached a historic milestone Wednesday. By taking the field in Minnesota, Joe West umpired his 5,164 major-league game. That moves him to second place all-time among umpires.

MLB fans roasted Joe West after the umpire reached his milestone

West has a bit of a reputation among baseball fans. He’s one of the few umpires most fans know by name, which should tell you all you need to know. Fans tend to recognize and remember umps who make them angry.

Because of that, West’s milestone was met with resistance from most fans.

That’s just a small sampling.

Joe West could retire with the record for most games as an umpire in MLB history

Should West stick around a few more seasons, there’s a strong chance he’ll break that record. Bill Klem leads the way with 5,375 games. Following Wednesday’s contest, West is just 211 games behind the record.

Most teams have about 40 games remaining in 2018. If he sticks around in 2019, that should give him close to 162 more games, which would close the gap by about 200. At that point, he would be in the single digits. And if postseason games count toward his total, West could easily reach Klem’s mark in 2019.

If that happens, we’re sure MLB fans will have some nuanced and measured takes.

Joe West is climbing up the all-time umpiring lists. (AP Photo)
Joe West is climbing up the all-time umpiring lists. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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