Kerry Wood rips Joe West over Joe Maddon ejection

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The crankiest umpire in Major League Baseball was at it again Monday night, this time ejecting Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon in the ninth inning over a situation that surely could have been avoided.

After Jeremy Hazelbaker of the St. Louis Cardinals broke up Cubs pitcher Kyle Kendricks’ no-hit bid to leadoff the ninth, some Chicago players tried to have a mound visit to buy closer Aroldis Chapman more time to warm up. We see that all the time in baseball, and you would think West would be even more understanding of it after a guy loses a no-hitter with three outs to go.

Instead, West stopped Cubs catcher Miguel Montero in his tracks and told him not to join his teammates on the mound. That infuriated Maddon, who came storming out of the dugout to launch four-letter words at the man they call “Cowboy Joe.”

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You can’t blame Maddon for being angry. West has a reputation for going on power trips, and not allowing a reliever more time to get loose is another example of one. Shortly after the incident took place, former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood retweeted a bunch of tweets mocking West. He then added some commentary of his own:

I just don"t want him in the post season. Enough of the #JoeShow https://t.co/qPhEQ9u7nf

— Kerry Wood (@KerryWood) September 13, 2016

Ok I"m done. We all know he sucks. Good night.

— Kerry Wood (@KerryWood) September 13, 2016

Again, West is known for this stuff. He tosses players and managers out all the time (here’s another example), and oftentimes he is clearly looking for trouble. While you can understand him wanting to keep the game moving in that situation, there was no need to stop Montero like that and make a big spectacle out of it.

Baseball – Larry Brown Sports
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#Ejection, #Kerry, #Maddon, #Over, #Rips, #West, #Wood - #Baseball

Joe Maddon has great reaction after bold Travis Wood move works to perfection

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Joe Maddon had a splendid reaction Sunday after one of his unconventional managerial maneuvers produced magical results.

Maddon went to his bullpen early after the Seattle Mariners scored six runs over the first three innings off Cubs starter Brian Matusz. In the sixth, he had Travis Wood relieve Joe Nathan, who had put runners on second and third with nobody out. Wood walked the first batter he faced before getting two strikeouts and a popup to escape the bases loaded jam without allowing a run.

After Wood did his job in the sixth, Maddon decided to pitch Pedro Strop in the seventh, but he did not remove Wood from the game. Instead, he had Wood play left field. The move worked out perfectly when Wood made a brilliant catch on a ball hit by Franklin Gutierrez with one out:

Travis Wood makes the catch and hits the wall. pic.twitter.com/4QO9SRn9UI

— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) August 1, 2016

Maddon’s reaction was perfect:

Joe Maddon after Travis Wood catch. pic.twitter.com/asZOabUwkj

— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) August 1, 2016

And how well did Wood track that ball? Let’s just say much better than someone like Kyle Schwarber probably would have.

Travis Wood with the snag!!!

Route efficiency: 90%
Distance covered: 63ft
First step: 0.2 sec
Top speed: 15.5 MPH @cubs

— Daren Willman (@darenw) August 1, 2016

But the story doesn’t end there. Maddon brought Wood back in to pitch with two outs in the top of the eighth. Wood picked off the runner at first to end the inning. He was finally removed from the game when Mike Montgomery came in to pitch the ninth.

Baseball – Larry Brown Sports
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#After, #Bold, #Great, #Maddon, #Move, #Perfection, #Reaction, #Travis, #Wood, #Works - #Baseball