Umpire ripped for ‘not even close’ game-ending call

For the second time in less than a week, MLB umpire C.B. Bucknor is coming under fire for his performance behind the plate.

Bucknor was the home plate umpire for Saturday’s game between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Chicago took a 6-5 lead in the top of the tenth inning. Then, with rain pouring with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning, Bucknor called for the tarps. The delay lasted about three hours. So, no matter how the game finished from there, it was going to be weird.

At the time the game was delayed, White Sox pitcher John Brebbia was ahead 0-1 in the count against St. Louis hitter Nolan Gorman. When the game resumed, they had both been replaced, by Tanner Banks and Iván Herrera, respectively. While Banks’ 1-2 offering to Herrera appeared to be well outside, Bucknor called the pitch a strike, ending the game.

As would be expected, Tom Ackerman and Jim Edmonds, calling the game for the Cardinals on Bally Sports Midwest, were decidedly less enthused. Bucknor, who was panned by Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer earlier in the week , was slammed by the St. Louis broadcasters.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. After all of that, he’s going to call a pitch off the plate…Not even close,” Edmonds said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ackerman echoed.

They were not alone, as fans ripped Bucknor’s game-ending call.

Not helping matters, Bucknor and St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol have a history. Bucknor ejected Marmol from a game in 2022. Following the game, Marmol recalled the argument . “He questioned my time in the league, so I returned the favor and questioned his time in the league,” Marmol said.

The next year in spring training, Bucknor refused to shake Marmol’s hand before a game. In response, the St. Louis manager was even more pointed, saying “I don’t think he’s very good at his job, and he has zero class as a man.

This call certainly won’t do anything to quell that feud.

[Photo Credit: Bally Sports Midwest]

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