Madison Bumgarner and umpire Joe West have intense staredown
By Mike Dyce
San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner and umpire Joe West have intense staredown after a called walk.
Pitchers and umpires disagreeing about the strike zone is nothing new, we’re used to seeing pitchers voice their displeasure over calls all the time.
What we’re not used to is what San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner did on Thursday night. Against the San Diego Padres, Bumgarner walked Jedd Gyorko in the sixth inning. Not having watched the game, it sounds like a call earlier in the at-bat was called a ball when it should’ve been a strike, which would’ve affected whether Bumgarner walked him or not theoretically.
As Gyorko walked to first, Bumgarner turned and let out a yell. Standard. Then when he turned around Bumgarner locked eyes with homeplate umpire Joe West and the two just stared through one another.
Bumgarner was probably making a statement with his stare, West was probably just waiting to see if Bumgarner would begin to argue with him and put himself in a position to throw him out at the first chance. If the latter is what West was going for, Bumgarner handled it perfectly.
Watch the intense standoff between Bumgarner and West below.
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