Hunter Pence shares key detail from infamous Madison Bumgarner-Joe West stare-down

SF Giants fans who had the honor of watching Madison Bumgarner pitch for the team will never forget what a fierce competitor he was. That could manifest itself in many different ways, but Bumgarner’s teammate Hunter Pence shared some really interesting insight into Bumgarner’s mindset in the mound.

Pence made a YouTube video about “unexpected” Giants moments recently and broke down the infamous stare-down between Bumgarner and umpire Joe West back in 2015.

It’s great to go back and watch it every now and then because it truly is hilarious. Bumgarner throws a pitch that gets called a ball by West and leads to a walk. Bumgarner loudly screams an obscenity after the walk and West instantly removes his mask, comes out from behind the plate, and stares at Bumgarner. 

Eventually West went back behind home plate and the game resumed but it was two ole North Carolina boys going toe to toe seeing which one was going to back down first. 

Pence said that he talked with Bumgarner about that exchange afterwards and the big lefty said, “I just wanted to let Joe West know that I didn’t need him to beat the Padres.”

Bumgarner's competitive spirit with Giants was something to behold

Pence notes that the San Diego Padres were not very good back then and they were seen as the worst team in the National League West. Bumgarner was never lacking in confidence on the mound so that stare-down was his way of saying that he didn’t need calls to go his way, he could just go out there and beat the Padres with his raw stuff.

Bumgarner was never afraid to attack hitters. He always wanted to go after guys and rarely ever nibbled when he could challenge someone. That’s part of why he was such an effective and gutsy pitcher for San Francisco: he pitched without fear.

He was not afraid of the batter he was facing, the umpire, the situation, or anyone on that field. He was the one people were afraid of and when he came out of the bullpen in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series the Kansas City Royals and all their fans knew it was going to be nearly impossible to win that game.

That’s why he is one of the best World Series pitchers of all time and had so many memorable playoff starts. The guy had nerves of steel and supreme confidence in himself and Pence’s story on that memorable Joe West encounter just shows what a great competitor Bumgarner was for the Giants.

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