A New York state judge Monday ordered former MLB catcher Paul Lo Duca to pay umpire Joe West $500,000, plus interest, for a comment the player made on an Action Network April 2019 podcast in which he alleged the umpire took bribes for calls.

Judge John Kelley last year ruled the comments defamatory, and Monday’s decision is on the damages. West had asked for substantially more, arguing just the cost of the PR campaign to clear his name would cost $11.9 million.

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“We were liberal in our ask,” West’s attorney, Kevin Murphy conceded. But he described himself as pleased with the outcome.

Judge Kelley wrote, “The court concludes, however, that the reputation management plan … created for the plaintiff, estimated to cost $11,898,000.00, vastly overstates the expenses necessary to remove the Lo Duca story from internet web sites or ‘push down’ the story by emphasizing positive stories about the plaintiff.” 

Lo Duca has never responded to the lawsuit, West’s attorney, Kevin Murphy said. The Action Network settled last year, he said. The outlet apologized and took down the podcast, but other terms are confidential, according to Murphy.

On the podcast, according to West’s complaint, Lo Duca was recalling a mid-2000s game in which he said Billy Wagner struck out a player on three pitches. The catcher said he later asked his pitcher, “What the f–k just happened just right now?” Wagner responded, according to Lo Duca, “Joe loves antique cars … so every time he comes in town, I lend him my ‘57 Chevy so he can drive it around … so then he opens up the strike zone for me.”

In the judge’s ruling, he noted Wagner provided an affidavit in December “in which he essentially denied that the conversation described by Lo Duca had ever occurred.” The judge also noted that Wagner had not pitched in a game when Lo Duca was catching where he threw three straight strikes. Lo Duca also said on the podcast West had ejected him from eight or nine games, and that is unfounded too, Judge Kelley wrote.

West plans to retire this year, with the major league record for the number of games umpired in his sights (without any rainouts, he would break it May 25, Murphy said). Bill Klem holds the record at 5,375, with West 30 games behind. More importantly for the case, he has Hall of Fame ambitions, and Lo Duca’s comments could hinder his election. Hall of Famers earn more from speaking engagements and autograph shows.

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“The plaintiff expressed a legitimate concern that, if Hall of Fame voters credited Lo Duca’s false assertion regarding his integrity and character, he might not be elected for induction into the Hall of Fame for the same reasons as otherwise excellent players “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, and Barry Bonds had or have not been elected,” the judge wrote.

Lo Duca, reached for comment Monday on his cell phone, asked what the caller wanted. When West’s name was mentioned, the line went dead.  He did not reply to a follow-up text.

Lo Duca played in MLB between 1998 and 2008, largely with the LA Dodgers, Miami Marlins, and New York Mets, who he was playing for during the alleged game with Wagner.

West’s lawyer Murphy also represents MLB umpire Angel Hernandez. Earlier this month a federal court dismissed Hernandez’s discrimination claims against MLB. Last year, West submitted a declaration on behalf of Hernandez in that case. 

(Photo of West: Elsa / Getty Images)