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April 21, 2014 – Detroit, MI The umpires confer about a foul tip that was called a third strike by home plate umpire CB Bucknor (54) during the game on Monday evening, Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers MLB Baseball Herren USA APR 21 White Sox at Tigers PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY Icon2581404210026 April 21 2014 Detroit Wed The Umpires conf about A Foul Tip that what Called A Third Strike by Home Plate Umpire CB Bucknor 54 during The Game ON Monday Evening Comerica Park Detroit Michigan Chicago White Sox AT Detroit Tigers MLB Baseball men USA APR 21 White Sox AT Tigers PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY
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April 21, 2014 – Detroit, MI The umpires confer about a foul tip that was called a third strike by home plate umpire CB Bucknor (54) during the game on Monday evening, Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers MLB Baseball Herren USA APR 21 White Sox at Tigers PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY Icon2581404210026 April 21 2014 Detroit Wed The Umpires conf about A Foul Tip that what Called A Third Strike by Home Plate Umpire CB Bucknor 54 during The Game ON Monday Evening Comerica Park Detroit Michigan Chicago White Sox AT Detroit Tigers MLB Baseball men USA APR 21 White Sox AT Tigers PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxRUSxSWExNORxONLY
When the fans said that the ABS was going to expose a lot of MLB umpires, they were not lying. We have a lot of umpires, like Ron Kulpa and CB Bucknor, who have terrible games. But this also begs the question: Are the fans being too harsh on the other umpires for even the slightest of misses? The umpires certainly think so.
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But MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, Michael Hill, said, “Major League umpires hold themselves to the highest standard and deeply care about getting calls right… We commend the umpires for being the most accurate as a group in history… We are also pleased that on the closest of pitches, those being challenged, umpires have been correct nearly half of the time (47 percent).”
The MLB umpires have raised major concerns, saying that ABS is being too strict on them. They say that calls even within a one-sixth-inch margin are regularly getting overturned, and the umpires have no buffer. They fear that the fans are judging them too quickly, even for calls that are just 0.2 inches off.
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Former umpires have also called out the ABS for being extra precise in calls and making umpires look bad. Veteran umpire Gary Darling said calls are flipped for pitches missing by one tenth inch. Joe West argued ABS accuracy remains unproven despite the league’s confidence in system numbers.
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Image: MLB.com
Umpire Dale Scott said that the umpires are now making calls to avoid getting overturned, which in turn leads to public backlash.
But the league put this to rest by showing up with numbers as arguments. They reported that the accuracy is at 93.5% accuracy, up from 92.7% last season. Officials also state 46.2% of challenged close pitches were still called correctly by umpires.
This statement by the MLB tried to shut down any concerns of the umpires having problems. But rather show that they have improved than last season, thanks to the ABS.
But the umpires can’t really blame the fans for being critical, too. Umpires like CB Bucknor seem to have made it a habit to make bad calls. In one Reds game, six of eight calls against C.B. Bucknor were overturned. Bucknor has an accuracy rate of 91.33%, which is well below the league average of 93%.
Furthermore, in the Brewers-Rays game, Bucknor made a call at 1st base that was comically bad. He called Jake Bauers out on a tag, saying that he didn’t touch 1st base. But the replay showed that Bauers clearly stepped on the middle of the base, but Bucknor wasn’t even looking at him. This made the team’s managers laugh at Bucknor.
Fans also noted that 54% of 585 challenges were overturned within two weeks. Although the umpires argue that ABS is not helping their image, umpires like CB Bucknor aren’t helping it either. And with the MLB stating numbers that tell that the umpires are doing well, it is up to the umpires to take some accountability for making bad calls.
Is it good that the ABS is taking over umpiring in MLB?
During the game on 28th March between the Red Sox and the Reds, umpire CB Bucknor had 6 overturned calls. Eugenio Suárez challenged two straight strike calls, which were overturned, and avoided a strikeout, giving the momentum back to the Reds in that game.
That night was the perfect show of human error and why baseball needs ABS more than anything.
Within one week, ABS moved from the trial stage to overturning umpires in real-time.
When we compare this to another piece of tech that the MLB introduced, the pitch clock, the ABS impacts the game directly. But the problem is that MLB allows only two failed challenges.
That caution showed when Cal Raleigh skipped a challenge in the eighth inning of a 5-4 game. Seattle lost after that strikeout, and Raleigh later admitted he misjudged the pitch.
In that Red Sox-Reds game, Bucknor had to judge about 80 really close pitches and got 20 of them wrong, out of which six were overturned. That means he got one out of every four tough calls wrong, giving him a 25% error rate for the night.
ABS guarantees consistent calls, making fully automated strike zones feel like the natural next step for baseball. Still, the current system could be improved by giving teams a third challenge. An extra challenge would allow players to be proactive earlier in the game while simultaneously pushing umpires to sharpen their accuracy over time.
Let’s be clear, calling balls and strikes is difficult, and there will be some missed calls. But the number of calls the umpires are getting wrong is the problem, and that is exactly what the ABS is solving.
Written by
Edited by
Arunaditya Aima