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Player review: Phillies and Blue Jays postpone series over weekend due to Covid-19
(6:47)
Home plate umpire Joe West temporarily left the Nationals-Blue Jays game (GameTracker) on Thursday afternoon after accidentally being hit in the head with a bat. Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette lost his bat to his follow-up and struck West in the head. West was bleeding from the side of his head and left the game at the bottom of the first after Nationals athletic trainer Paul Lessard came out to evaluate him.
West returned to the field at the top of the third inning, however. West was stationed at third base, and referee Vic Carapazza remained as a plate umpire.
West was also hit in the head during a game in the 2017 season, when someone in the stands threw a ball at West when he was working as a first base umpire during a Marlins-Brewers game.
Entering the 2020 season, West, 67, was 65 games away from breaking Bill Klem’s 5,375 record for the most regular season games by a referee. He wanted to work the 2020 season in the midst of a pandemic, despite being considered a high-risk individual.
The Blue Jays were serving as a home team Thursday at Nationals Park as their 2020 ballpark in Buffalo is not yet ready for MLB. The Toronto weekend series in Philadelphia was postponed earlier Thursday after two Phillies employees, a coach and a clubhouse worker, tested positive for COVID-19.
