Joe West is a perennial guest at the Jimmy Fund radiothon run by some Boston media outlets and supproted by the Red Sox. Everyone there has good things to say about him.
But I don't think he's a good umpire. Besides making more than his share of inaccurate calls, he makes it too much about himself, particularly by getting defensive. I don't mind when umpires have personalities, but I don't like his specific on-field personality.
Who knows about the Hall of Fame. I'd like to think that an umpire would have to have a superlative reputation to be elected, as well as a record of doing the job well. In my opinion, he fails on both counts.
