Enough is enough.
It’s time for Major League Baseball to do something about 62-year-old (tomorrow) 28-year MLB veteran umpire CB Bucknor, who once again showed why he is among the worst – if not the worst – umpires at baseball’s highest level.
Check Bucknor’s rating of his calls during Tuesday’s 6-3 Dodgers win over the Seattle Mariners at Dodger Stadium per X.com’s @UmpScorecards:
The most egregiously blown call by Bucknor was the fifth pitch by Dodgers right-handed reliever Joe Kelly to Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger in the top of the eighth inning that should have been strike three but instead was called a ball by Bucknor.
But under the category of ‘What goes around comes around,’ Haniger struck out looking at Kelly’s very next pitch, which ended up being the first out of a crucial inning-ending strike ’em out throw ’em out double play, as Dodgers catcher Will Smith caught Mariners pinch runner Dylan Moore trying to steal second base on the pitch.
It is extremely unlikely that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred (et al.) can or will do anything about Bucknor’s incompetence and that of several other horrible umpires. As baseball fans well know, MLB umpires have a very strong association, and any attempt to go after bad umpires could and probably would result in another strike or other job action by MLB umpires.
Play Ball!
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They need to do a sit down with Bucknor and convince him he needs to spend more time with his family. Like they did with Angel Hernandez.
He might actually become the catalyst for automated ball/strike calls.