CB Bucknor’s umpiring crew during the Mets-Diamondbacks series could be described with many adjectives, none of them positive.
Keith Hernandez, ever the wordsmith, opted for “El Stinko.”
Hard to argue with that.
The Arizona Diamondbacks took two of three from the New York Mets at Citi Field, but not without Bucknor’s crew doing their best to make themselves the story.
The series kicked off on Tuesday night, which was, surprisingly, the calm before the storm. There wasn’t much controversy; it was just that SNY director John DeMarsico continued his hot streak of going viral by calling a Pete Alonso home run right before it happened.
Wednesday was where the wheels started to come off.
Scott Barry had the plate for Arizona’s 4-3 win and flat-out refused to call the low strike.
Crew chief CB Bucknor didn’t help matters either. He and his crew botched a couple of key calls that required replay reviews, including one that couldn’t be fixed. With the bases loaded and one out, Jesse Winker clearly fouled a ball off his foot as the Mets trailed by a run. The umps ruled it fair.
Winker knew it hit him. So did everyone watching at home. But because it wasn’t reviewable, the call stood. Convenient.
Then came Thursday, and it was John Bacon’s turn to take center stage for all the wrong reasons.
Once again, the low strike disappeared. And once again, consistency was nowhere to be found. The game unraveled in the ninth inning. First, Bacon ruled a foul tip on Josh Naylor when it was clearly catcher’s interference by Luis Torrens. Arizona challenged. Overturned. One batter later, Eugenio Suárez foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into Torrens’ glove. Strike three, except Bacon called it a ball. It wasn’t even close.
“Up-and-in, I think it hit the bat,” said Cohen. “That should be a foul tip, strike 3. But that’s not reviewable either. John Bacon doesn’t seem to know the difference between a ball hitting a bat and a bat hitting a glove. That was clearly a foul tip for strike 3. I mean, come on. And now [Suárez] pops one up on the infield. I mean, what’s going on, Keith?”
“Two series in a row, just el stinko,” Hernandez quipped.
If you’re wondering what Hernandez was referencing, this wasn’t even the first time recently that a non-reviewable call burned the Mets. Just last week, it also involved Winker, this time caught in the middle of a bizarre triple play that shouldn’t have counted.
The Mets aren’t pointing fingers. They’re 21-11. But for fans, broadcasters, and anyone with eyes, it’s hard to ignore how often the umpires are making things harder than they should be. Credit to SNY for calling it like it is; someone has to, but it shouldn’t have to come to that.
It’s good content for us, but is it good for Major League Baseball? That’s a question for commissioner Rob Manfred.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.