Joe West: Changing Baseball One Game at a Time

Joe West doesn't like the way the Red Sox and Yankees play baseball. He doesn't like the way Mark Buehrle makes his move to first. He had no problem tossing Buehrle's manager Ozzie Gillen from a recent game. West soon afterwards gave Buehrle the heave-ho. Headlines all around.

The winner in all this? Apparently, Joe West. How did someone like Joe West generate so many headlines? Or better question, why?

It turns out that West has his own publicist. In the spirit of "love me hate but don't ignore me" any publicity is good publicity.  Especially when you have a CD or two to promote.

So then there's today's big announcement that the ubiquitous Joe West will be umpiring this weekend's series in Boston (not with the Yankees).  Writes ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes:

The announcement that West and his crew will be working the Red Sox-Royals series did not come from Major League Baseball, but from a Tennessee-based publicist who lists West as one of his clients and said that West is "available for media interviews and guest appearances." West is believed to be the only big-league umpire with his own publicist.

There you go. Brand West.