The WBC final is on, and despite Venezuela leading the game, the umpire panel is what has left the fans stunned. The umpire panel in the WBC final consists of Dan Bellino at home plate, Cory Blaser at first, Jeremie Rehak at second, Chris Graham at third, Delfin Colon at left field, and Cuti Suarez at left field. The common factor between all of them is that they are all American. And that’s what made the fans suspect a potential bias in the game.
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“Why is the Umpire team American? That’s where you lose credibility; you would never see any serious team competition with a referee from one of the nations in the final. If the umpires were from Venezuela, you would all be crying bloody murder,” one fan shared via X.
The fans’ suspicion of an umpiring bias in the WBC final doesn’t come out of nowhere. It stems from the umpiring errors already occurred since the 2026 WBC kicked in. Reportedly, Team USA’s semifinal game against the Dominican Republic ended with a botched strike call by the home plate umpire Cory Blaser. And expectedly, Blaser is of American nationality.
Why is the Umpire team American, that’s were you lose credibility, you would never see any serious team competition with a referee from one of the nations in the final. If the umpires were from Venezuela you would all be crying bloody murder.
So that stems the suspicion among the fans as the WBC finals are getting officiated by an all-American umpiring panel. In the semifinal between Team USA and the Dominican Republic, the home plate umpire called a strike that was way below the strike zone, eventually ending the Dominican campaign. That is what made the fans skeptical about a similar occurrence again in the final.
However, despite the probable umpire bias towards Team USA, it doesn’t mean they are not up to any challenge. As Team USA is still trailing in the final, Tarik Skubal is terribly missed. The pitcher who was coming off with a 2.21 ERA and 241 SOs from the last year could have been a potent weapon for Team USA. In the pool play game against Great Britain, he allowed only 1 run with 5 SOs from 3 innings. That dominance is missed in the final as starter Nolan McLean gave up 2 runs from 4 innings with only 4 SOs.
So, just as Team USA is left with a Tarik Skubal void, fans feel umpiring decisions could still go against Venezuela.
Umpiring decisions in the WBC have left the fans unimpressed
Even without any bias in the umpiring decisions, fans wonder why umpires from one nationality will officiate a game. “Why is the Umpire team American? That’s where you lose credibility; you would never see any serious team competition with a referee from one of the nations in the final. If the umpires were from Venezuela, you would all be crying bloody murder,” one fan said. “Having an American home plate umpire for the USA vs. Venezuela championship game is absolutely ridiculous,” another added.
There are a few Venezuelan umpires in the panel for the WBC.
Well, Venezuela won the game and the credit to their clean hitting, which came without any doubts. In defense, both teams pitched cleanly, and no close calls happened in the game except for a baserunning out. So, unlike in the semifinals, the WBC final has no controversial umpiring decisions. So, while Venezuela got over the skepticism around umpiring bias, the result ultimately went for them. However, fans are sure that the dominance of American umpires will continue.
“With this UMPIRE. Venezuela is losing from the start,” one fan took a reference to POTUS Donald Trump’s political stance about Venezuela. Still, fighting against all the odds, Venezuela eventually made it, and the chants around umpiring bias might be put to rest for now.