Joe West was the worst ball and strike umpire in baseball this year - MLB

When I wrote that Joe West post a little while ago I will admit that I was mostly commenting on West’s reputation. He has one, of course, for becoming part of the game and part of the story and generally having a confrontational attitude. There have been incidents in the past, you see.

If you take out those incidents I couldn’t tell you with any degree of certainty if West was truly the worst umpire in baseball. I’ve seen him make bad calls and call entire games with very questionable strike zones, but in all honesty, I would have assumed that, yes, there are worse umps. Seniority is powerful in that world, but you have to have some skills to last that long, right?

Then Rob Neyer tweeted this a few moments ago:

Among 50 umpires with at least 2500 ball-strike calls this season, #ALCS crew chief Joe West ranks dead last http://t.co/lAFusjZiNl

— robneyer (@robneyer) October 9, 2014

And yep, he’s right. And that’s quite a thing.

So, that leaves a couple of possibilities: (a) seniority, and not merit, is basically the entire basis for getting postseason assignments; or (b) getting a postseason assignment is, secretly, punishment, not reward, and the truly good umpires are off in Cabo or something getting a jump on their vacations, laughing at old Joe West.

Given that Jim Joyce got the World Series last year I’m assuming that second part isn’t true, because he’s aces. But then I’m left with more uncertainty at why the Orioles and the Royals have had Joe West inflicted upon them.

TAMPA, Fla. — Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees’ opening day shortstop against the San Francisco Giants.

The team announced after a 6-2 win over Toronto in spring training that Volpe had won the spot. New York manager Aaron Boone called the kid into his office to deliver the news.

“My heart was beating pretty hard,” said Volpe, rated one of baseball’s best prospects. “Incredible. I’m just so excited. It’s hard for me to even put into words.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, hitting coach Dillon Lawson and bench coach Carlos Mendoza were also present.

Volpe was able to share the news with his parents and other family members near the Yankees’ dugout and said it is something he will never forget.

“It was pretty emotional,” Volpe said. “It was just an unbelievable moment to share with them.”

Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.

“It’s very surreal,” Volpe said. “I’ve only ever been to games at Yankee Stadium and for the most part only watched him play there.”

Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple-A.

Spring training started with Volpe, Oswald Peraza and holdover Isiah Kiner-Falefa competing for the everyday shortstop job. Kiner-Falefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp, and Peraza was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday evening.

“While certainly the performance was there, he killed it between the lines,” Boone said of Volpe. “All the other things that we’ve been hearing about showed up. There’s an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that is evident. He really checked every box that we could have had for him. Absolutely kicked the door in and earned his opportunity.”

Volpe arrived in Florida in December to work out at the Yankees’ minor league complex.

“He’s earned the right to take that spot, and we’re excited for him and excited for us,” Cashman said. “He just dominated all sides of the ball during February and March, and that bodes well obviously for him as we move forward.”

Volpe was selected out of high school with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft from Delbarton School in New Jersey. He passed up a college commitment to Vanderbilt to sign with the Yankees.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get into the organization,” Volpe said. “This day, this feeling, this moment was kind of what I’ve worked my whole life for when I made that big decision.”

“Right now it’s crazy,” he added. “I don’t even know what lies ahead but Thursday I just want to go out and play, and have fun.”