If bad umpiring were a competition, Angel Hernandez would be the reigning champ, but after the Cubs vs. Tigers clash, Doug Eddings is making a serious bid for the throne. His string of outrageous calls in Game 2 lit up fan outrage like wildfire. And now, MLB legend Chipper Jones has entered the chat, echoing what every furious viewer was already yelling at their screens.

When the Cubs took on the Tigers, all they wanted was revenge for their 3-1 loss in the series opener. But on the diamond, they had to battle not only the opposing team but also bad umpire decisions. Not one or two, but a series of missed calls, one after another. But against all odds, Chicago emerged as the winners 6-1 with a barrage of five homers. It definitely was a sweet revenge not only against the Tigers but also against Eddings. Jones didn’t hold back; he slammed Eddings as “toxic” and called out the disaster for what it was.

“Not only one of the worst umpires in the league for going on 2 decades…. but consistently one of the most confrontational. Toxic combination!” Jones, a former Braves’ third baseman, wrote on X, with the video of Eddings’ controversial calls in the game. Eddings has been calling games for nearly 25 years, but blunders riddled his long career. It even earned him a lousy umpire tag. Jones’ decision to call him out couldn’t have come at a better time.

It all started with Cubs’ Kyle Tucker. Eddings called him out for swinging in the third, but the videos clearly prove he didn’t swing. He made the call without even checking with the third-base umpire, an unacceptable move by any standard. And then in the very next inning, none other than the MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong also became a victim, as he too was called out. He left the field visibly frustrated. But, guess what? PCA got revenge with a home run later in the game. Unfortunately, the veteran Ian Happ wasn’t spared either.

Happ got knocked out for a pitch that was clearly outside the zone. It seems like this is a pattern, not an isolated event, adding to the list of events that earned Eddings a reputation as one of the worst umpires. Not just Jones, even MLB columnist Jon Heyman weighed in on X. “How about Robo umps in for a select few who have diminished sight?” he wrote, clearly aimed at Eddings. Umpires like him are the reason why the Robo-umps proposal came as a relief to the MLB world. Well, if that becomes reality, there will be fewer bad decisions affecting games. Turns out, this isn’t just a problem in the Majors. The umpire controversies plague college baseball as well.

Umpires’ inconsistency exposed in the NCAA

The NCAA has been under a lot of fire recently. Moreover, umpires are taking the headlines there, too. When Arkansas and Tennessee matched up for the opener of the Fayetteville Super Regional, it was natural that the game would heat up. It was young blood, after all. But in the sixth inning, when Arkansas pitcher Zach Root yelled and flexed, pointing to Tennessee first baseman Andrew Fischer after making a ground ball double play, it was well out of line. And strangely, the umpires didn’t take any action at all.

Things got more heated when Tennessee coach Tony Vitello came out of the dugout, calling out the umpires’ inconsistency, as the officials ejected one of their pitchers, Cannon Peebles, for a lesser display of aggression. “It wasn’t the same with what we just dealt with prior to—(with Peebles). But it is a different crew, too, and these guys would not be in the Super Regional if they weren’t highly qualified at what they do. . . That is where my frustration came from.” You can’t blame him, the double standard was plain as day.

And guess what happened afterward? The umpires issued warnings to players of both teams. And Root, who they allowed to continue the game, led the Arkansas to a tight 4-3 victory. The players already face huge odds in the field as they make efforts to prove themselves and take their teams forward. The least they deserve is fair umpiring. If that’s too much to ask, maybe it’s time to let Robo-umps take over.