MLB: Ranking the 5 Worst Umpires in Baseball

2. C.B. Bucknor

May 18, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Home plate umpire C. B. Bucknor gestures in the game between the Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When you google “worst umpire in baseball”, the third result on the search results page is C.B. Bucknor’s Wikipedia page.

Bucknor is a mainstay in every player poll that asks them to list their least favorite ump, and Blue Jays fans hate him so much that they created an online petition to get him fired.

Perhaps the best explanation for Bucknor’s poor reviews is given by the always-straightforward Curt Schilling, who stated, “I don’t think [Bucknor] is trying to draw attention to himself, I just don’t think he’s a very good ump,”. That statement explains a lot. Bucknor isn’t suffering from Joey Crawford Syndrome, he’s just incompetent. At least it’s not malicious, right?

Schilling goes on to say that Major League Baseball doesn’t have any sort of process that forces umpires like Bucknor to get better, so much like other pressing issues facing the game today, if it sucks, I guess we’re stuck with it.