© Jake Roth | 2019 Jul 27
Joe West is going to work, coronavirus be damned. The 67-year-old umpire called deputy commissioner Dan Halem on Sunday afternoon to share that despite being on MLB’s list of high-risk umpires, he’d be returning to the field in 2020 as he chases history. West is trying to break Bill Klem’s mark of 5,375 games umpired, the most in league history.
“If this game hasn’t gotten me by now, no virus is going to get me,” West told The Athletic on Monday night. “I’ve weathered a bunch of storms in my life. I’ll weather another one.”
A storm-weatherer or not, West also sounds like he’s a bit of a coronavirus truther. Despite the CDC’s data that states the virus has killed 130,000 people in the United States, West thinks those numbers are skewed.
“He said, ‘According to our doctors, you’re high-risk. I said, ‘Look, most of these people that they’re reporting are dying are not healthy to begin with. I’ve lost 25 pounds over the winter. I’m playing golf every day in the heat. I’m fine. I’m not going to back down now.’
“I don’t believe in my heart that all these deaths have been from the coronavirus. I believe it may have contributed to some of the deaths. I said, ‘I’m not going to opt out. I’m going to work. And I’m going to work until you take me off the field or I get hurt, whatever. I’m working.’”
West is 65 games short of the record. 2020 would be his 42nd season as a major league umpire.