Umpire CB Bucknor faced some backlash on Tuesday night after making a horrendous call to give the Atlanta Braves a second chance against the Washington Nationals.
Chase d’Arnaud was up for the Braves with the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th, with his team trailing 3-1. Facing a 1-2 count, d’Arnaud swung and clearly missed a pitch that bounced in the dirt.
CB Bucknor calls everyone back after the game "ended" because it was a "foul ball" pic.twitter.com/ttTvwxUeBt
— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) April 19, 2017
Possibly because the ball had bounced in the dirt, Bucknor called that a foul ball, giving d’Arnaud a second chance. D’Arnaud struck out a second time, ending the game. There was a big mess because Bucknor originally called it foul, then seemed to indicate the game was over, then called it a foul ball again.
Afterwards Nats outfielder Jayson Werth called on MLB to do something about Bucknor:
Jayson Werth on C.B. Bucknor: "When it's consistently not with the standards of the league, something needs to be done."
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) April 19, 2017
Werth had words for Bucknor after the game. He probably was not happy about the way Bucknor called this at-bat for him:
@MLB — Time for CB Bucknor to call it a career. Embarrassing end to a major league game & too many phantom strikes. #Nats pic.twitter.com/KQjUlVXMjC
— Scott McNickle (@sdmcnick) April 19, 2017
Jayson Werth letting CB Bucknor have it after the game pic.twitter.com/sELuQix4sB
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) April 19, 2017
MASN analyst Ray Knight was critical of Bucknor:
Ray Knight had some thoughts about CB Bucknor after the game pic.twitter.com/KFYz2ZcDjb
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) April 19, 2017
Max Scherzer’s wife wanted Bucknor to have to answer for his poor calls:
When will umpires be held accountable after games? Players and managers face the media, might be time umps do too…
— Erica May-Scherzer (@emaysway) April 19, 2017
This sort of thing is nothing new for Bucknor, who is consistently ranked by players as one of the worst umps in the game. One of his biggest blunders was this one from 2013. MLB needs to address this.
