The Oak Ridge Boys will be there.
So will Commissioner Rob Manfred.
And Chicago Bears icon Jim McMahon.
Fourteen-time Grammy Award singer Emmylou Harris, …
The Oak Ridge Boys will be there. So will Commissioner Rob Manfred. And Chicago Bears icon Jim McMahon. Fourteen-time Grammy Award singer Emmylou Harris, too. There will be another 130 guests and friends traveling to Chicago for the historic game Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Joe West is scheduled to work his record 5,376th game when he squats behind the plate, surpassing Hall of Famer Bill Klem’s mark that has stood for 80 years. “This record will never be broken,” former umpire Terry Tata says. “It’s almost mathematically impossible.” That’s because umpires now work no more than 120 games a season and spend two weeks in the instant replay office in New York, meaning it would take 45 seasons to surpass West. Considering umpires don’t reach the big leagues until they’re at least 30, it’s hard to imagine a 75-year-old umpire standing behind home plate, particularly with automated strike zones and robot umpires on the horizon. Then again, there may be no umpire like “Cowboy Joe’’ West ever again. Because he’s not only an umpire. He’s also a singer-songwriter, actor, golfer and philanthropist. West has appeared in two movies, recorded two albums, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, sung with Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard and Johnnie Lee, been a pallbearer for Boxcar Willie, played on the Celebrity Players Tour, thrown pitcher Dennis Cook to the ground breaking up a fight, grabbed Jonathan Papelbon by the jersey after making a lewd gesture, designed his own chest protector and won a $500,000 defamation lawsuit against former catcher Paul LoDuca? JOE WEST ON COVID-19: Addressing concers before the start of 2020 season, ‘Those statistics aren’t accurate ‘ “He’s like a traveling road show,” says umpire Dan Bellino, who requested in January to be on West’s crew for the historic game. “He can’t walk through a hotel lobby without people stopping him. It’s like the parting of the red sea.” What other umpire would prompt a player to whip out his cell phone to take a picture with West during the game as Nelson Cruz did at the 2017 All-Star Game? “That’s one hell of a compliment right there,” says former long-time umpire Jerry Crawford. “I’m sure there’s quite a few managers that don’t want to take a picture with Joe West.” Well, at least not while he’s still working. “I think when Joe retires people are going to realize the magnitude of his accomplishments,” Bellino says. “Sort of like a president of the United States who don’t realize the good they do until they leave office. Even though he’s always blasted by the media and blasted by the fans, they don’t realize Joe’s contribution to this sport. “He’ll do everything for umpires. I’ve seen young guys tell him they’re interested in umpires, and Joe will ask for their address and send equipment. There’s not a single umpire, I don’t care if it’s slow-pitch softball, he won’t stop and talk to, answering their questions.” West,68, made his major-league debut in 1976 and became a full-time National League umpire in 1978. He has since umpired in three All-Star Games, six World Series and 23 postseasons, as well as worked no-hitters and many milestones of the past 40-plus years. But he’s best known as a showman, the most flamboyant umpire in the game. He’ll tell you that he may not always be right, but he also has never been wrong. He’ll walk into a honky-tonk, stuff dollars in the jukebox and play his own songs all night. “He’s the only guy I know,” umpire Jerry Layne says, “that goes broke playing his own music.” He takes his golf clubs on the road, knowing they weigh exactly 78 pounds, but will tell the airline agent their scale is wrong.
