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A.J. Pierzynski tells a hilarious story about the time umpire Joe West threw him out of a spring training gameVideo (streamable.com)

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[–]Chicago Cubsvonnillips 247 points248 points  (8 children)

Went in expecting Joe West ass-hattery, left with a chuckle

[–]Chicago White Soxptfreak 100 points101 points  (0 children)

I mean you got both really

[–]Toronto Blue JaysLittleWall 41 points42 points  (6 children)

I actually met Joe last summer on a baseball trip and it completely changed my mindset about the guy. He and his crew were more than willing to share stories for an hour plus.

Told some really funny stories about Joey Bats!

[–]Toronto Blue JaysGiantSquidd 13 points14 points  (3 children)

Like what?

[–]Toronto Blue JaysLittleWall 53 points54 points  (2 children)

I don't remember all of the stories but one of them went like this...

It's a Sunday at the RC featuring Jose Bautista Bobblehead and Joe West is umping 2B that day.

At some point during the game Joey laces a double off the wall.

Joe goes up to Jose on base and the following conversation ensues...

JW: Congrats on the Bobblehead Day Jose. Think I can get a few boxes?

JB: Sure thing Joe, I didn't realize that you were such a fan!

JW: Oh, I'm not. I just want them for target practice!

[–]Toronto Blue JaysGiantSquidd 26 points27 points  (1 child)

Lol, that's pretty good! Joe West still sucks ass as an umpire, but it's good to know you can enjoy him as a human being off the field.

...you got any stories that can fool me into believing that Angel Hernandez is an actual human being and not just some robot umpire made from defective parts?

[–]Toronto Blue JaysLittleWall 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Na, Angel is still just terrible.

When I met Joe and his crew, Andy Fletcher was the funniest. I won't be telling his stories!

[–]St. Louis CardinalsMiner_Guyer 4 points5 points  (1 child)

My grandpa was an umpire when he was younger, I think he did minor league ball but never major leagues. Now he's a professor of sports medicine and sports history and things like that, and for one seminar or meeting or something he went to, he did a presentation on Bill Kinnamon, who was behind the plate for Roger Maris' 61st home run. He got to meet Bill before passed away, and talked with a bunch of umpires who knew Bill or had gone to the umpire school he ran, things like that. One of the umpires he talked to was Joe West. He actually has Joe West's cell phone number and has talked to him on that number before. One of the times, Joe was at the airport between series, and he took the time to talk to my grandpa. So I definitely agree that Joe has a good side.

[–]Toronto Blue JaysLittleWall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's tough because as fans we only see the side of people that show ups on TV and we all know how the media likes to spin things negatively.

I'm sure a lot of people out there that are hated are actually really good people.

But it's fun to hate on people...especially Vic Carapazza!

[–]San Francisco GiantsVerianas 169 points170 points  (3 children)

Lmao. I remember this. All I could think was ‘That is so like AJ Pierzynski to get tossed in a ST game. And it’s so like Joe West to toss someone in a ST game.’

[–]Boston Red Soxclassically_cool 41 points42 points  (1 child)

Truly one of the greatest love stories of our generation.

[–]San Francisco GiantsVerianas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah man. How can you not be romantic about ejections in baseball?

[–]New York YankeesHawkeyeJosh 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yep.

It’s like, “In a Spring Training game, Joe West tossed out...”

Oh god.

“...AJ Pierzynski.”

Oh okay.

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points  (9 children)

Someone should find the clip, it should be easy to track down

[–]Boston Red SoxJamesBCrazy 160 points161 points  (8 children)

https://www.mlb.com/video/pierzynskis-ejection/c-49167183

[–]Boston Red SoxSandwich_Crust 117 points118 points  (0 children)

I'm so glad you can actually se McCann laughing

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]Texas RangersDoorknob11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    For some reason I always thought of him as the type of asshole that's a compulsive liar, but it seems like he's just the kind of guy that's an asshole because he doesn't lie at all.

    [–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (4 children)

    Anyone have a mobile friendly version?

    [–]Boston Red SoxThomas_Pizza 45 points46 points  (3 children)

    https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2015/03/19/mlbtv_nyaatl_49167183_1800K.mp4

    [–]CanadaJoester09 37 points38 points  (0 children)

    "Joe's already in midseason bad"

    lol

    [–]Cincinnati Redswasteplease 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    That’s a ball.

    [–]Boston Red SoxThomas_Pizza 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Probably, but AJ even acknowledged that in the video in the OP, he was like "Can you please just expand the zone, we're gonna be here all night!"

    His argument wasn't really that it was a strike but that it was a Spring Training game and maybe West could widen his strike zone since he wasn't giving them any borderline pitches and it was an entirely meaningless game.

    [–]Boston Red SoxJamesBCrazy 42 points43 points  (0 children)

    This always brings a smile to my face.

    [–]St. Louis Cardinalsseeking_horizon 45 points46 points  (0 children)

    This is peak Pierzynski

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 113 points114 points  (19 children)

    Back in 2005 or 2006 I went with my friend to an Indians an White Sox game. It was the final week of the season. I had just started college.

    We had seats right behind the visitor’s dugout. I was feeling brave and bold, the arrogance and ego of being 18 and recalling one of my favorite moments in high school. During a girl’s basketball game I had started a “FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!” countdown with like 12 seconds left. This poor girl on the away team had heaved the ball across the court, missed, then started to walk off the court, before realizing she’d be duped

    So I decided I would try and heckle AJ Pierzynsky. I hated him and he had just gotten into the on deck circle.

    I stood up and yelled, “HEY AJ!” Before I could say anything else, AJ just turned and looked at me. Saw me in my Indians shirt and Indians hat. And he politely waited. Full of patience. Just ignoring the game and waiting for me to say whatever it was I was going to say.

    Well that threw me off. And, to be honest, I didn’t have anything planned to begin with. I stuttered, “you...your...uh...” before going with “...your helmet is too shiny!”

    AJ could have ignored me. He really could have. Instead, like a true A+ asshole, AJ removed the helmet from his head, examined it, then gave me a look like I was the stupidest person he’s ever seen, and put the helmet on and went about his swings. People around me were cracking up.

    Sigh.

    Definitely did not win that won. I did go on to successfully heckle Emil Brown, Phil Coke, Ty Wiggington, and Gilbert Arenas. Jay Bruce I did well against but he hit the “shut the fuck up” HR that gave him the victory.

    [–]San Francisco Giantssayheykid24 98 points99 points  (5 children)

    In fairness, that is the dumbest fucking heckle I’ve ever heard in my life.

    [–]Atlanta BravesMuscoviteMutineer 49 points50 points  (2 children)

    I’ll never forget a drunk buddy of mine heckling a minor leaguer for wearing a prime number, 37. I still can’t decide if it was just highbrow enough to be funny or if it was just insanely stupid. Possibly a bit of both I suppose.

    [–]Texas RangersTexanHoosier 33 points34 points  (1 child)

    I don't know why but I can't stop laughing picturing this. "Nice prime number asshole! Bet you think you are sooooo original!"

    [–]Atlanta BravesMuscoviteMutineer 11 points12 points  (0 children)

    Ha. We were in stitches at the time, but like I said it was a MiLB game and we were sloshed at that point. I think it might have actually been the home team now that I think of it.

    [–]Chicago White SoxNeat_On_The_Rocks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

    Thats what happens when AJ Pierzynski acknowledges your existance and peers into your soul

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    It was so bad. I completely froze. Truly had not expected him to look at me.

    [–]Texas RangersOdorsrighthook 12 points13 points  (1 child)

    reminds me of the time i heckled kyle seager. he took it like a champ too. i was sitting right by third base and everything i said he’d look over with a goofy ass smile and wave at me like i was telling him i loved him. it got me to stop.

    [–]Los Angeles DodgersPearberr 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    I heckled a bunch of Mariners fans a few years ago at Safeco.

    Kyle hit a HR and I turned to my uncle and loudly asked when he thought the Dodgers would call him up.

    [–]Cleveland IndiansRudyVanDisarzio 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    and Gilbert Arenas.

    would love to hear this story.

    i laughed harder at your AJ story than i did OP's video

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Haha glad to hear that!

    It was the 2006 NBA playoffs. Cavs/Wizards. Game 6, I think? The one that went to OT or double OT and LeBron made a layup with like 2 seconds left.

    I was a college freshman. One of my friends was this pretty blonde girl. Some dude was trying to date her and it wasn’t going great. He had some interest, but she was unsure. Being a shrew dude, he decided if he befriended me then I’d be putting in a good word for him and that could win her over. Plus would show her he’s a good guy. This kid being rich...his way of winning me over was like 3rd tickets to an NBA playoff game. Limo there and back to boot.

    Side note: he told us his dad had a limo company. But we never could find out what the company was. Found nothing about his dad on Google. We looked for years. He would talk about his dad a lot, and brag about his family’s wealth, but it would be strange because we never saw his parents visit. Never saw them on the phone. He would say he went and did these crazy things, like flew somewhere to meet his parents, but there were never photos or anything? His Facebook had like two pictures. That night, he told me his dad had a box at the game and we’d go see him at one point, but then he told me his dad didn’t actually end up going? It was strange. I think he transferred out the next year.

    Whatever questions we had about his wealth, we legitimately were three rows behind the Wizards’ bench. It was awesome. They could hear everything we yelled.

    So early in the game, we just started chanting “GILBERT! GILBERT! GILBERT!” Kind of like the WCW “GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG!” chants. We did that every single fucking time Arenas has the ball. It was awfully obnoxious. Some people around us kind of found it funny. Others were clearly annoyed. Most didn’t care. It was so loud regardless.

    Arenas has a pretty awesome game. I think he had 20+ in the first half. It was bad enough to the point someone told us to stop because Gilbert was clearly enjoying it. He was pulled with about 1 min left in the 1st half and he went running by us with his hand to his ear, smiling.

    He might have won the half, but this was war, and we were using an attrition strategy. Just wear him down.

    He broke during halftime. With like 5 min to go before the game resumed, the Wizards had huddled at the bench and the coach was talking to them. We just brazenly hollered our “GILBERT! GILBERT! GILBERT!” The entire fucking huddle. And being three rows behind them...we weren’t far away. Like 10 feet. Bellowing at the top of our lungs. Players kept looking back at us, exasperated, confused, etc.

    When the huddle broke, Gilbert stared us down. Then put his middle finger to his head and “scratched” his head with just his middle finger.

    At that point, our whole section burst into applause. Which at the time I assumed was for us getting a rise out of Gilbert...now I kind of wonder if it was because they all hated us haha.

    Gilbert continued to play alright, numbers wise. But there was a clear difference in his body language and overall performance. He kept looking at us more and more too. By the fourth, a few other rows had joined in. By overtime, our whole section would join in. Ellis Burks was actually in the row ahead of us, and at one point he turned around and said, “Keep chanting! You’re getting to him!” Which made me happy because I had spent the entire game slightly worried Ellis Burks would hate me for chanting Gilbert in his ear.

    We eventually won, Gilbert was clearly unhappy, and Burks encouraged my heckling. It was a good game!

    My friend did end up going on a few dates with the guy. The last one was being his date to his fraternity formal. Dude got her fucked up on liquor, to the point where she couldn’t even board the boat the fraternity had rented. She had to be rushed to the hospital. He went to the party. I waited at the hospital with her for 8 hours. Good times. That may have been one of the reasons he transferred.

    [–]Cleveland IndiansRudyVanDisarzio 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Good god, you're a fucking hero. You took the time to type out this incredible story, you fucking BROKE Gilbert Arenas, AND:

    She had to be rushed to the hospital. He went to the party. I waited at the hospital with her for 8 hours.

    I'm slow clapping as hard as I fucking can. And as far as the mysteriously wealthy dooshbag is concerned, I smell either witness protection or a conspiracy!

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Hahha thank you! And thanks for the gold!

    I was happy to wait with her, as I knew she’d do the same. The sad part is that after college we aren’t really close at all. But for all four years things were good. We’ll always have that!

    Regarding the rich kid...I think his family probably did have money but he was probably...not given a lot of attention. So he would puff himself up to get attention from others. Probably his parents gave him more money rather than love...friendship, etc. I could very well imagine his dad was at the game but told him not to come to the box because it was business, have two tickets and take someone from school. Sort of sad, but at the same time he still did douchey things when he didn’t have to. Oh well.

    [–]Kansas City Royalscbpantskiller 0 points1 point  (6 children)

    Can you tell the Emil Brown story, just for fun?

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 2 points3 points  (5 children)

    Yeah!

    I’m pretty sure it was the May 16th game of 2006. Royals were in Cleveland.

    I was finishing up my freshman year of college. It was after my horrible AJ Pierzynski experience. I was feeling more confident, being in the second semester rather than the first semester. And definitely motivated after AJ embarrassing me.

    My friend and I decided to stand at the railing at the top of the left field wall. Usually the place was packed, but this being the beginning of our attendance downturn...we had plenty of room. Playing LF that day for the Royals was Emil Brown.

    I hadn’t really planned on heckling Emil. Didn’t know too much about him. But I saw that Hafner was up and batting .326. When I looked at Emil’s BA...he was at .221. Without thinking about it, I shouted out, in what was a pretty quiet stadium... “HEY EMIL!” Paused for a second. “HEY EMIL! HAFNER IS BATTING ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR POINTS HIGHER THAN YOU!”

    A few people around us laughed. Emil, after the pitch, looked back at me, like “What the fuck, dude?” Not angry, just...absolutely confused.

    Victor came up next. The Ben Broussard, who was hitting .396. So I yelled out, “HEY EMIL! BROUSSARD IS HITTING ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE POINTS HIGHER THAN YOU!”

    More people laughed, a bunch cheered.

    Next up was Casey Blake. “HEY EMIL!”

    “HEY EMIL!”

    A couple pitches go by.

    “HEY EMIL!”

    This time he kind of titled his head. Didn’t turn around but signaled he was listening.

    “EVERYONE PLAYING TODAY HAS A HIGHER BATTING AVERAGE THAN YOU!”

    This got a lot of laughs. And even Emil then turned the fuck around and scanned up and down each lineup. Then, and I kid you not, put his head down and shook it. At which point I felt pretty bad. He was clearly disappointed.

    Imagine my surprise when at the end of the season I see Emil’s BA hovering around .290! I like to think I ended up giving him some motivation.

    [–]Kansas City Royalscbpantskiller 1 point2 points  (4 children)

    I love this.

    This is way better than my Emil Brown story.

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Oooo what’s your story!?

    [–]Kansas City Royalscbpantskiller 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    I used to work in a bar in a popular entertainment district in KC. It was early, about 7:30ish, one night in June or July and we were hanging out front of the bar after setting up talking and waiting for other staff to arrive before it started getting busy.

    While we were standing there this car locked up its brakes, skidded to a stop and the driver threw his flashers on in the middle of the lane and got out to talk to us. He walks up and is like, "Hey,what's going on tonight?" So we tell him and we're talking back and forth and one of the door guys goes, "Are you just going to leave you car in the middle of the street with its blinkers on? You can probably find a parking spot a block or two up that way," and Emil casually replies, not in a rude way, but almost like he's done this a few times and says, "It's okay. I'm Emil Brown."

    So we're talking some more and Emil says, "Is it safe here? I've heard it can get a little rough." One of the door guys said it was normally okay, but in the summer time it can get real busy and when people drink too much then sometimes a fight can break out, but that we have staff to stop it. Then out of no where another door guy goes, "Yeah, sometimes things can happen, but it's pretty safe. We don't have to carry BB guns or anything like that to keep the peace," while totally referencing this event. Emil, to his credit, just said, "Oh," and acted like it didn't bother him.

    Then as we're standing there the GM, who was a pretty large and loud guy, walks outside the front door, reaches in his pocket and put his glasses on then looks at Emil and goes, "Hey my man, is this your Chrysler? You should move it because it's blocking traffic," and then takes his glasses off. Emil replied, "Um, that's a Bentley." The GM reached back in his pocket, put his glasses back on and said, "Oh, so it is," and then walked back into the bar.

    Then Emil left and went to move his car. He didn't come back to the bar though.

    [–]Cleveland GuardiansGroundhogNight 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    What a strange fucking encounter! The GM sounds like an amazing man, but kind of a dick. Someone you’d want to watch interact with people but not interact with lol

    [–]Kansas City Royalscbpantskiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    That is a great way to describe that GM. Ha.

    [–][deleted]  (9 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]St. Louis CardinalsFlabpack221 49 points50 points  (3 children)

      We loved him in St. Louis

      [–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (1 child)

      "AJ, Did I get on base?" "Fuckin aye!"

      [–]St. Louis CardinalsTsimp1000 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Haha, that’s damn good!!

      [–]Chicago White SoxDeySeeMeLurkin 35 points36 points  (0 children)

      My favorite player. Beloved on the Southside.

      [–]Chicago White SoxAnniesBoobzz 36 points37 points  (2 children)

      So glad he’s back with this organization. The asshole attitude is very obvious but he’s such a colorful personality to have around.

      [–]Boston Red SoxAATroop 35 points36 points  (1 child)

      I genuinely find him to be pretty funny. Probably the worst thing he did was kicking the trainer in the nuts, but I remember when he was the RSox, someone (maybe Lester or Buchholz) was not getting shit called, and he told the ump to give him a ball- one he could see.

      [–]Chicago White SoxNeat_On_The_Rocks 18 points19 points  (0 children)

      God Bless AJ Pierzynski. Thats great.

      He was also such a rock solid catcher for so long. He was really good a couple seasons but for the most part was just a guy. But he was just a guy you could rely to catch baseballs 130 games a year for like 15 years. Thats incredible

      [–]Chicago Cubs - MVPosterHispanicatthedisco 14 points15 points  (0 children)

      "When you play against AJ, you hate him. When he's on your team, you hate him a little bit less."

      [–]Chicago CubsUrsaPrime 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      Always been one of my favorites to hate.

      [–]Detroit Tigersjosh1123 20 points21 points  (5 children)

      I always loved AJ, never really seemed to come off as a dick when he played against us.

      [–]Chicago White Sox_Rooster_ 12 points13 points  (4 children)

      I honestly thought he got a bad rap. He always seems great to me.

      [–]Los Angeles DodgersPearberr 7 points8 points  (2 children)

      I think his smarts and willingness to exploit the rules a little hurts people's perception of him.

      That play against the Angels was so clutch, and he should be lauded for it... instead people cite it as evidence against him.

      [–]Chicago White Sox_Rooster_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Agreed. Even now I see people running after a 3rd strike.

      [–]Chicago White Soxbongasaurus_rex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      IIRC, AJ remembered a similar play when he was playing in minor league for the Twins or some shit. Like the dude has the memory from 10 years ago and pulls it out in the playoffs to set up a walk off by Crede.... Aj will always be the dickhead the pulls the attention away for his teammates... plus he probably enjoys it but no one can deny he knew the game like very few.

      [–]Chicago White Soxchw2006 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      I used to HATE AJ when he was on the Twins. But then again, I used to hate every player on those early 2000s Twins teams.

      He used to kick our ass and get big hits in crucial situations against us, which is why I loved the signing in 2005. If he's playing for us, he can't do that against us.

      [–]Atlanta BravesToddGack 14 points15 points  (0 children)

      Cowboy Joe

      [–]Detroit TigersDMThomasPRE 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      He made Hawk turn redder than his jersey, lmao

      [–]Chicago Cubsf_ick 12 points13 points  (0 children)

      This is amazing

      [–]Texas Rangers_Juntao 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      hawk harrelson looks like he's dying at the end somebody get him some help.

      [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      AJ is the best.

      [–]Texas Rangersrobak69 7 points8 points  (1 child)

      So West did him a favor.

      [–]Los Angeles DodgersPearberr 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      I've done the opposite in travel ball games that go too long. Coach starts chirping terrible stuff and obviously wants to leave.

      In between innings, call the coach out, pull out the scorecard.

      "Give me a pitcher who can get the ball close and I'll call you some strikes, but so long as I am stuck here, you are going to be stuck here with me, I'm not going to help you go home quickly."

      [–]Seattle MarinersNevermoreSEA 14 points15 points  (5 children)

      Joe West actually seems like a pretty good guy. Just has trouble when games get heated and players/managers start arguing. Not even a bad ump when it comes to actual calls.

      [–]Kansas City RoyalsChase_on_bass 12 points13 points  (1 child)

      I was a bellman at a hotel in Kansas City a few years ago and brought him and his golf clubs to a room. He was honestly really funny and very generous. It was a cool experience to say the least

      [–]Los Angeles AngelsAK_Happy 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      I like to picture you carrying him in a bag up to his room, like the clubs.

      [–]Seattle Marinersthrillhou5e 20 points21 points  (1 child)

      lol what kind of meds are you on for your strep throat right now?

      [–]Seattle MarinersNevermoreSEA 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Not strep. Definitely a virus though. But the answer is a lot

      [–]Boston Red Soxpolelover44 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      He's not a bad ball/strike ump but he goes on power trips way too often.

      [–]New York Yankees8nate 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Baseball, man.

      [–]Boston Red SoxPapiSurane 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      He looks a lot like Bradley Cooper here.

      [–]Kansas City Royalscbpantskiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I wish Pierzynski would write a book because I bet he has a ton of stories to tell.

      [–]Cincinnati Redssuperheavydeathmetal 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      This is priceless. How is baseball not the greatest sport on planet Earth?

      [–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (1 child)

      But it is

      [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      In terms of worldwide popularity football (or soccer to you North American heathens) holds the greatest hold worldwide, but it's my personal favourite for sure. Once Christmas and New Year are over the promise of a new baseball season are what holds my hopes for Spring/Summer.

      [–]Philadelphia Philliesficus77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Big,old wanker but I bet his autobiography would be a funny read.

      [–]Atlanta Bravescocoboco101 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      This is utterly fantastic.

      [–]Boston Red SoxBeezer35 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      He always had such a stupid look on his face at the plate.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      That is awesome. That is Bull Durham level shit right there. Hahahaha!

      [–]Justinw303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I don’t trust people who don’t like A.J.