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Related: About this forumMLB umpires union distances itself from Joe West's opinion on coronavirus (ESPN)
ESPN
1:36 PM ET
4 Minute Read
In the aftermath of comments made by veteran umpire Joe West, the Major League Baseball Umpires Association on Thursday issued a statement saying that "recent public comments" do not reflect its stance regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
<snip>
The 67-year-old West said he doesn't believe the death total being attributed to the coronavirus -- which has surpassed 130,000 in the United States -- is an accurate figure.
"Those statistics aren't accurate, I don't care who's counting them,'' West told USA Today Sports. "When country music [singer] Joe Diffie died, they said he died of the coronavirus. He had Stage 4 lung cancer. The coronavirus may have accelerated his death, but let's be realistic.
"Our system is so messed up they have emptied hospitals because there's no elective surgery. The government has been giving these hospitals extra money if someone dies of the coronavirus. So everybody that dies is because of coronavirus. I don't care if you get hit by a car, it's coronavirus.''
The MLBUA statement says the union "fully supports" the safety protocols agreed to by Major League Baseball and the MLBPA and that "regardless of any umpire's personal views, when we report for a resumed spring training and 2020 season, we will conduct ourselves as professionals and in accordance with the health and safety protocol."
<snip>
The 67-year-old West said he doesn't believe the death total being attributed to the coronavirus -- which has surpassed 130,000 in the United States -- is an accurate figure.
"Those statistics aren't accurate, I don't care who's counting them,'' West told USA Today Sports. "When country music [singer] Joe Diffie died, they said he died of the coronavirus. He had Stage 4 lung cancer. The coronavirus may have accelerated his death, but let's be realistic.
"Our system is so messed up they have emptied hospitals because there's no elective surgery. The government has been giving these hospitals extra money if someone dies of the coronavirus. So everybody that dies is because of coronavirus. I don't care if you get hit by a car, it's coronavirus.''
The MLBUA statement says the union "fully supports" the safety protocols agreed to by Major League Baseball and the MLBPA and that "regardless of any umpire's personal views, when we report for a resumed spring training and 2020 season, we will conduct ourselves as professionals and in accordance with the health and safety protocol."
Read more: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29434942/mlb-umpires-union-distances-joe-west-opinion-coronavirus?platform=amp
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MLB umpires union distances itself from Joe West's opinion on coronavirus (ESPN) (Original Post)
Mike 03
Jul 2020
OP
Initech
(100,029 posts)1. He's right in that the numbers aren't accurate.
I'm sure that they are way, way worse than what's being reported. And this season could be absolutely disastrous.
Iggo
(47,534 posts)2. Joe West is lucky there'll be no fans in the stands.
(Hell, there'll probably be no players on the field, either.)
ProfessorGAC
(64,827 posts)3. Obviously, West Knows Nobody In Insurance
The LICs are freaking out because they are now 150,000 unanticipated deaths. The actuarial models, actually hedging for something big, because there hasn't been one since H1N1, used 20,000-30,000 as an estimate to control cash flow throughout the year.
150k plus 20 or 30 thousand from the guestimates is 170-180k. That means we're still at 40-50,000 less than COVID explains!
And, insurance companies don't care who the president is