Umpire Joe West was awarded $500,000 plus interest on Monday after winning a defamation lawsuit against former major league player Paul Lo Duca.
Judge John Kelley of the Manhattan (N.Y.) Supreme Court rendered the decision.
Lo Duca had said on "The Favorites" podcast on the Action Network in April 2019 that West had once agreed to give Lo Duca's New York Mets teammate Billy Wagner a bigger strike zone in exchange for use of the pitcher's vintage car.