Bumgarner taking his time after the strikeout pic.twitter.com/t67DeUgOVZ
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 28, 2019
It did not have the staying power of the last staredown between star pitcher and well-known umpire, but it did have a happier ending.
Madison Bumgarner and Joe West reunited Sunday in San Diego, four years after the standoff also at Petco Park after a called ball, and it did not take long for the two to have a moment.
In the top of the second, Bumgarner struck out, but apparently did not realize he just looked at strike three. Perhaps because he lost track of the count, perhaps because he didn’t know West had just punched him out, Bumgarner stepped back into the batters’ box. After an awkward pause and brief conversation with West, Bumgarner walked slowly back to the Giants dugout.
Bumgarner seemed more ignorant than angered about the strikeout, and West got his attention when the ace got to the dugout. The two actually smiled and laughed, a rare sight.
Madison Bumgarner and Joe West share a laugh. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/5uwKRoi1vd
— . (@Fawn_Liebowitz) July 28, 2019
