MLB umpire Joe West calls out former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski with witty comeback after comical exchange
Former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and umpire Joe West have a long and complicated history.
Catchers and umpires tend to establish close relationships as they spend a lot of time in close proximity. The professional relationship between the two has blossomed since Pierzynski and West retired from the game.
Their unique love-hate relationship was once again on display when the two were reunited on a recent podcast.
Pierzynski was looking for trouble when he told West to stop complaining about the long commercial breaks between innings.
"Quit complaining ... those damn commercials paid the fat ass salary that you got for 40 years," he said.
West wasn't having it and came back with a witty response of his own.
"All the money you stole from the White Sox and you're talking about the money that an ump made?"
The comical back-and-forth took place on a recent episode of the Foul Territory Podcast.
#FTLive .@aj_pierzynskiFT and Joe West trading zingers 😠#FTLive
AJ: "Quit complaining ... those damn commercials paid the fat ass salary that you got for 40 years."
Joe: "All the money you stole from the White Sox and you're talking about the money that an ump made?" https://t.co/kZSJjvH3ih
West is a veteran MLB umpire who is highly respected in the league. He provided some great insight on the podcast; it should be a must-watch for baseball fans everywhere.
Umpire Joe West ejected A.J. Pierzynski from spring training in a famous incident in 2015
In what has to be one of the most comical ejections in the history of baseball, A.J. Pierzynski was ejected in a spring training game by Joe West in 2015.
Pierzynski was known as one of the most vocal players in the league. On this occasion, he obviously said something that irked the veteran umpire.
In a game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, Pierzynski was frustrated after a series of calls from West. After the catcher spoke out about it, West casually signaled that he was out of the game with a simple thumb gesture.
"And Joe goes, 'You know what, just get out of here,'" said Pierzynski.
A.J. Pierzynski went on to say that he was happy to be thrown out of the spring training game as they would've been there all night with West's strike zone.