Larry Brown Sports

Umpire C.B. Bucknor was a little too eager to punch out Oakland A’s left fielder Seth Smith on Thursday.

Smith was facing New York Yankees reliever Adam Warren during the bottom of the 11th inning and had a 2-1 count. Warren threw a change that backed up into the zone, and Smith took it for strike two. Bucknor must have lost track of the count, because he rang up Smith. I mean Bucknor was just textbook with his punchout. He gave it a left-right combination to the body like a champ.

Smith was unfazed by the punchout. He remained in the box — probably somewhat confused by Bucknor’s actions — and grounded out in his at-bat.

Here’s the full video:

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The San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies played into extra innings on Thursday night, and the umpiring crew may have determined the outcome of the game. Or maybe they didn’t. Well, they certainly made things more confusing than they had to be.

As you can see from the GIF above that GameReax shared with us, Yasmani Grandal hit a ground ball to third with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th inning. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado tried to get the force out at third and fire to first for an inning-ending double play, and he almost pulled it off. Chase Headley scored the go-ahead run when the runner was called out at third and safe at first.

The problem was the umpires got it backwards. The runner at third should have been safe, but third base umpire Cory Blaser called him out despite the fact that Arenado released the ball well before he touched the bag. Then, first base umpire Ed Hickox called the runner safe at first when the throw beat him by about a step. Here’s a video of the play:

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Another day, another bad call by an umpire showcasing the need for expanded instant replay.

The Milwaukee Brewers got some help from umpire Mike Estabrook during the ninth inning of their 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. The Phillies had pitcher Kyle Kendrick pinch-running on second with one out and the score 4-3. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez was at the plate with a 1-1 count. Brewers reliever Frankie Rodriguez spun to second on a pickoff play, and his throw and the tag seemed to beat Kendrick. The problem is shortstop Jean Segura clearly dropped the ball, but Estabrook could not see that from his angle. All he saw was a throw beat Kendrick and Segura show him the ball, so he called Kendrick out.

As things usually go, Hernandez doubled for what would have been the tying run. The Brewers then intentionally walked Domonic Brown with two outs and got Michael Martinez to ground out to end the game. They won 4-3.

At least umpire crew chief Tom Hallion admitted they got the call wrong.

“The ball goes in the glove and comes out of the glove with Kendrick diving back in and with Segura diving back for the ball,” Hallion told a pool reporter, per The Associated Press. “Obviously, Mike was in the right position to make a pickoff play call like that. But the way that the play developed, the ball comes free and rolls right in Segura’s bare hand and he comes up shows him the ball.”

Maybe that’s what manager Charlie Manuel gets for pinch running a pitcher in the ninth inning of the game. And at least we can say that Kendrick deserved to be called out for taking such a big lead. But if the play were properly called, he would have been called safe.

Poor Alan Porter. The home plate umpire for the Tampa Bay Rays-Miami Marlins game on Wednesday was nailed in the nuts when Evan Longoria fouled off a ball that bounced in the dirt and skipped into Porter’s crotch during the fourth inning.

Between all the blown calls and foul balls to the groin, life isn’t easy being an umpire.

This isn’t Porter’s only mishap this season. Take a look at this fluke play he was part of earlier in the season:

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First base umpire Scott Barry badly missed a call in the eighth inning of Sunday’s Los Angeles Angeles-Kansas City Royals game, giving the Royals an extra out and Mark Trumbo an error.

Royals outfielder David Lough hit a routine grounder to first baseman Trumbo, who fielded it cleanly and took it to the bag for what should have been the last out of the inning. For some reason, Barry decided to call Lough safe. He said Trumbo didn’t touch the bag. Manager Mike Scioscia came out to argue the call but had no luck (he was later ejected for arguing with Marty Foster in the ninth inning).

As you can see in the screenshots above and below, the toe of Trumbo’s cleat was even bent, proving his foot touched the bag.

So how did Barry miss that call? Another screenshot below shows why.

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Umpire Jeff Nelson totally butchered a call on a double play ball in the second inning of the Texas Rangers-Seattle Mariners game on Friday night, giving catcher Jesus Sucre a memorable first career at-bat.

Seattle led off the bottom of the second with two singles and had Sucre up with nobody out. Sucre grounded a ball to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who threw to shortstop Elvis Andrus for the out at second. Andrus turned and threw on to first for the double play, but pitcher Justin Grimm reached in front of Moreland and snatched the ball. Nelson didn’t seem to notice that Grimm cut off the ball and still called out Sucre.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge came out to contest the call, but it wasn’t until after the game that he realized Moreland never even caught the ball.

“Everybody’s just focused on the bag,” Wedge said via MLB.com’s Doug Miller. “I thought he came off the bag. That’s what I was out there arguing. And then I come to find out later, with the replay, that he didn’t even catch the ball. … It would have been a much bigger argument if I had known that at the time, no doubt about it.”

Brendan Ryan followed with an RBI double to tie the game at two. Had Sucre correctly been called safe at first, he might have been able to score on the double or, at the least, the Mariners’ inning would have continued. Instead, the Mariners lost 9-5.

Below is a GIF of the play:

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The umpiring crew for the Minnesota Twins-Chicago White Sox game on Tuesday night badly blew a pair of calls in Chicago’s 4-2 win at Target Field.

The first blown call occurred with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Justin Morneau was on second when Oswaldo Arcia singled to right field. Morneau tried to score on the play, but Alex Rios’ throw clearly beat him. Morneau tried to do a hook slide to avoid catcher Tyler Flowers. Morneau slid around Flowers and tried to reach back to touch the plate, but Flowers tagged him while he was sliding by. Believing Morneau was out, Flowers pretty much gave up after that. However, home plate umpire Jordan Baker missed the tag and instead gave credit to Morneau for reaching over and touching the plate after he was tagged. That bad call literally gave Minnesota a run and made the score 2-1 White Sox.

It’s understandable how Baker missed the call from his angle, so that’s why it would have been great for him to review it.

The next blown call was much worse.

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