Have you ever wondered how many MLB referees can have in a career and how many referees they can play? A recently retired "super referee" tells you from personal experience that the answer is 43 years, 5460 baseball games. After a long period of time, the 69-year-old finally chose to retire, and with a record full of glory, he left his beloved baseball stadium. Let's take a look at the "mlb first referee" - Joey West.
Source: ESPN official website
Born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1952, West grew up in Greenville and played baseball and American football in high school. Like many sports-loving boys, he became obsessed with American football – who would want to work as a referee in the first place? After attending college, he became a quarterback at Elon University from 1971 to 1973, leaving a record that could not be broken for 20 years, but training in American football also delayed his growth in baseball.
Image source: elon.edu
Obviously, elon university graduates had a hard time getting on the career path in the '70s, but west met a life-changing nobleman during college, Malcolm Sykes, the head of carolina baseball refereeing. He was working as a referee for a high school baseball game, and Sykes saw the young man's potential and suggested that he go to the referee's professional training; as a result, West lived up to expectations and graduated with the first place in the class.
Failing to embark on a professional baseball path led West to become a full-time referee at an early age, and as he gained experience in several minor leagues, he first played in the Major League Nations in 1976 and became a full-time referee for the League of Nations in 1978. In 1981, at the age of 28, he became the youngest referee to referee a National League championship, but the young man soon showed his anger.
In 1983, West had a verbal altercation with the Atlanta Warriors coach in the aisle outside the locker room after a game, after which West shoved the opponent directly and was fined by the major league. But this wasn't the only time he broke out, as he tried to stop a Philly pitcher in a 1990 brawl between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Met.
Image source: USA Today
In 1986 and 1988, West twice wrote the National League Championship, and his ability was gradually recognized by major leagues, and in 1992, at the age of 40, he wrote the World Series for the first time! He then refereed the World Series again in 1997 and witnessed the marlins.
Since then, West has begun to referee in the American League and quickly became the referee of the American League Championship, in 2005 he refereed the World Series three times, and before he knew it, he had been in the major league for 30 years, and the 24-year-old boy had grown into a top referee at the age of 54. His outstanding refereeing skills have also been recognized and trusted by his peers, and in 2009, he was elected president of the World Referees Association and negotiated the largest referee contract in history with the major leagues. The referee breast protector he designed was also widely promoted, becoming the only referee equipment recognized by the major leagues.
West is dressed in his own design of Wilson West Vest Source: Boston.com
However, the old man has not changed his temper for more than 30 years, and in 2010, he directly criticized the Yankees and Red Sox series for slow pace, and was attacked by the coaches of the two teams for a while. The 2014 scene is even more classic, when a player committed misconduct, he directly expelled him from the stadium, the latter spit lotus, the two clashed; afterwards the player was suspended for 7 games, West was also suspended for 1 game, the key is that West claimed to be the opponent's hand first, but the video replay showed that it hit the 62-year-old man in the face solidly - West actually did it first! The old man talked about the juvenile madness, and the anger had to be released.
But that doesn't stop him from becoming the league's most respected referee, and the 2015 season was his 38th major league referee, which was the longest referee in major leagues after Bruce Flamen. In the 2019 season, he broke another of Flomin's records when he completed 5164 games in the refereeing game, becoming the second-largest referee in the major leagues. In May 2021, the historic moment arrived, and in a match between the White Sox and cardinals, West surpassed Bill Clem's 5376-game referee to become the referee with the most referees in the major league.
Remember dodgers' classic wild card battle showdown? It was West's last game, and he was the referee of that game. On February 4, 2022, West officially retired, which also put his number of referees at 5460, and in 43 years, he has refereed six World Series, 10 league championships, 8 league divisions and 4 wild card tournaments. We won't see this grumpy old man squatting behind the home base to complete a beautiful bow pulling motion this year, even though it gives a lot of batters a headache.
As the "first referee" in the history of the league, West's number of sanctions has reached a considerable 5460, and the accumulation of data will inevitably make him appear in many "famous scenes". For better or worse, some controversial verdicts have also made his name one of the few referee names that the majority of fans can remember. Even though he was only 70 years old, he still worked hard to accurately cut his last shift.
Dodge vs Cardinal Wild Card Battle Referee Report Image: Umpire Scorecards Twitter
After retiring from the army, perhaps when the old man thinks back to the "great achievements" of the past few decades, he will think of some scenes and smile. But this Cowboy Joe is more likely to regain his hobbies – being a musician! West, who has released a solo album, is not only a rigorous baseball referee, but also a debauched singer who loves freedom. After all, Dodgers stadiums have spared his solo albums!
Image source: Boston.com
treasure! Deserved mlb first referee, Joey West!
In the comments section, tell us about the most "West" famous scene in your memory!