Baseball Umpire, Accused of Cheating, Wins $500,000 Defamation Suit
In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out. A retired catcher, who claimed that some of those strikes were called dishonestly by an umpire in exchange for favors, found himself out as well – out $500,000 in damages stemming from his loss in a defamation suit.
Potential Hall of Fame umpire Joseph (Joe) H. West was awarded half a million dollars plus interest by Judge John J. Kelly of the Supreme Court of New York in his defamation suit against retired New York Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca on April 12. Lo Duca’s defamatory statements were made during a sports podcast when he recounted an alleged conversation he had with William (Billy) Wagner, a former relief pitcher and teammate. Lo Duca claimed that Wagner told him West expanded his strike zone and falsely called three straight batters out in exchange for access to his 1957 Chevrolet when the Mets were in town. Lo Duca also claimed that West had thrown him out of games eight or nine times out of 15 career ejections.
USA Today reports that Lo Duca’s podcast statements went like this: “We’re playing like a really tight game against the Phillies, and Billy Wagner comes in from the bullpen. I used to go to the mound every time and [be] like, ‘What’s going on?...and Wagner just winks at me. I’m like, ‘What’s the secret?’ He’s like, ‘Eh, Joe loves antique cars so every time he comes into town, I lend him my ’57 Chevy so he can drive it around, so then he opens up the strike zone for me.’”
West, 66, totally denied any misconduct or bribery and provided evidence that Wagner did not even pitch in the only Mets game against the Phillies in which West umpired during the 2006-2007 season.
The suit was originally filed by West against Lo Duca and Action Sports Network in October 2019. The network was dismissed from the suit in July 2020 when Kelly granted West’s motion for a default judgment solely against Lo Duca after the former catcher admitted all allegations in the complaint. With liability settled, the judge’s decision last Monday was limited to the issue of damages. The judge had previously denied consideration of additional affidavits submitted by West, including one in which Wagner denied that the libelous conversation had ever occurred.
In his opinion, Kelley recounted West’s distinguished 23-season career that placed him behind only Bill Klem in the number of Major League games ever officiated. West, who was still active when the suit was filed, is a serious contender to be only the tenth umpire ever inducted into the prestigious Cooperstown institution. He is major league’s senior umpire, having begun his career in 1976. He became a full-time staff member two years later and began this season with 5,345 games umpired, on track to break Bill Klem’s career record.
“The plaintiff evinced a strong desire to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, an honor previously bestowed upon only 10 umpires,” Kelly wrote. He also said that he “credit(ed) West’s testimony about the importance of integrity and character during Hall of Fame considerations. He noted that Lo Duca’s false statements might harm West’s chances for induction, comparing West’s situation to that of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds, among others.
Kelley also found West’s actions persuasive. After the plaintiff learned about the podcast from the Commissioner of Baseball, West immediately “checked the record books” to review both the number of strikes he called when Wagner pitched to Lo Duca, as well as his history of ejecting Lo Duca from games. “He learned that Lo Duca’s story was untrue,” the judge reported. LoDuca was a major league catcher from 1998-2008 and was an All-Star four times.
He also detailed West’s accounts of probable post-retirement income that would be lost if he was not inducted into Cooperstown. He said he could lose up to $20,00 or more from each of his public appearances and that amount or more whenever he attended baseball card shows. He also anticipated increased earnings from sales of the “West Vest,” a popular chest protector marketed by Wilson Sporting Goods that would increase in value if he was in the Hall of Fame.
West’s case also included evidence from experts in digital forensics and reputation management who testified that Lo Duca’s defamatory statements were widely repeated via the internet in both social and mainstream media. Without specifying any particular dollar amount, the reputation expert said there would be a “proportional differential” between West’s post-retirement earnings if his reputation remained “tarnished, as opposed to cleared.” He stated that hiring a public relations company to restore his good name by conducting campaigns to “overwhelm” and “flood” the media with positive stories, could cost up to $100,000.
Kelley’s legal analysis centered on the criteria needed for a default judgment. Here, Lo Duca admitted all allegations in the complaint. Because his false allegations injured West, his words were defamation per se and thus West did not have to prove special damages, which would have required evidence of economic loss.
Citing the legal requirement of awarding damages based on comparable cases, the judge explained that his damage award was based on the “widespread dissemination” of the defamatory statement, the nature of those statements and the plaintiff’s “legitimate anxiety.” These factors led to an award of $250,000 for “past mental anguish” and an additional $250,000 in special damages to compensate West for expenses he “will need to incur in retaining a public relations firm to formulate and operationalize a sufficient reputation remediation plan.”
That amount reflected the testimony of media and reputation management experts but did not include any funds related to his election or non-election to the Hall of Fame because “it is not proper for a court to base its award of damages on … speculation.”
West was not available for comment, but his attorney Kevin Murphy told USA Today that West was pleased by the outcome and that Lo Duca was being held “accountable for his actions.’’ “As the most senior Major League umpire,” he said, “Mr. West looks forward to focusing on the 2021 baseball season and breaking the record for the most games ever umpired by anyone in the history of Major League Baseball.”
Whether he breaks that record or not, and whether he makes it into the Hall of Fame or not, there is one thing that does not require speculation. West can certainly now afford his own ’57 Chevy.
