Umpire Joe West leaves game, then returns, after being hit in head by flying bat – ESPN

WASHINGTON– Home plate umpire Joe West left in the bottom of the first inning of Thursdays video game between the Washington Nationals and the Toronto Blue Jays after getting bloodied when he was hit in the head by Bo Bichettes flying bat, but he ultimately returned.
The 67-year-old West, who is the senior umpire in Major League Baseball, was struck near his left ear when Toronto leadoff hitter Bichette lost hold of his bat while swinging at– and missing out on– the first pitch tossed by Washington right-hander Erick Fedde.
Nationals trainer Paul Lessard came out to look at West and offered him a white towel to press against his head. The athletic trainer then walked off the field with West, taking him to a ramp that leads to the clubhouses and umpires room at Nationals Park.
Umpire Joe West is tended to by a Nationals fitness instructor after he was hit by a bat in the first inning of Thursdays game versus the Blue Jays. AP Photo/Nick WassThe video game– the last of four in a row in between the groups– was postponed for six minutes. When action resumed, Vic Carapazza moved from his original project at 2nd base to behind the plate, and the game continued with 3 umpires until West returned in the middle of the third inning. West moved to umpiring at third.
Bichette, who had actually missed out on the previous three video games with a tight left hamstring, doubled on Feddes next pitch and came around to score on a single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr
. West made his debut as a big league umpire in 1976, then ended up being a full-time personnel member two years later. He got in the 2020 season having worked 5,312 regular-season video games in the majors, second to Bill Klems 5,370.
Although the video game was in Washington, the Blue Jays were the “house” team– batting in the bottom half of each inning– because the Canadian government wouldnt allow them to utilize their home stadium in Toronto during the coronavirus pandemic. Eventually, the Blue Jays will utilize a minor league ballpark in Buffalo to host their games, but that facility is still being prepared.