Just minutes into Game 3 of the World Series, chaos hit early. In the second inning, home plate umpire Mark Wegner made an oddly delayed strike call that stunned everyone — even the announcers admitted, “Everybody is confused.” The call cost the Blue Jays a baserunner and a scoring chance, leaving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and fans fuming.

The chaos happened in the top of the second inning. Bo Bichette got things going with a crisp single to center field, putting a runner on base with no outs. What occurred next turned a regular at-bat into a big deal.

Daulton Varsho faced Tyler Glasnow and thought a high pitch was ball four, beginning to walk to first base. Bichette, seeing Varsho’s reaction, also started toward second. Everyone in the stadium believed it was a walk, but umpire Mark Wegner called it a strike instead. Glasnow quickly threw to Freddie Freeman at first base, catching Bichette in between bases, resulting in a crucial out.

In the reactions caught on the FOX cameras, “Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn’t believe” what had just transpired.

While Varsho resumed at-bat, eventually drawing a walk, they went scoreless for the inning. Alejandro Kirk followed with a single, but Addison Barger struck out, and Ernie Clement lined out in the next few moments.

For Toronto and Bichette in particular, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Bo Bichette, who missed seven weeks because of a sprained left knee, came back for the World Series in a completely different capacity. In today’s Game, he was playing at second base, marking his first time there since 2019 in the Minor Leagues.

The Blue Jays made a strategic change to get him back in the lineup, and now the call had turned Bichette’s mental adjustment into a baserunning mistake that wasn’t even his fault. A graphic circulating on social media shows the pitch in question was, in fact, a bit higher than the previous one, which was called a ball.

Wegner is the crew chief of the umpire squad this series and ranks 38th out of 92 in umpire rankings. But a few couldn’t help but wonder if the ABS could have helped prevent the miscue. After relying on the human element for the feel of the game and to avoid review delays, the league will only welcome the system in 2026.

Today, however, the Blue Jays lost a chance, and the Dodgers made them pay for it. Max Muncy hit a solo home run to right field, giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.

Even Jack Harris, who writes for the Dodgers, thought what just happened was unfortunate. “Oh boy. Daulton Varsho thought he’d walked, but HP ump Mark Wegner gave it a late strike call. At first base, Bo Bichette didn’t see that—and got caught walking to second for a huge first out of this inning,” he wrote on X.

Between innings, Blue Jays manager John Schneider marched over to the home plate umpire for a conversation, clearly unhappy with what he’d witnessed and needing answers his team and fanbase deserved.

Home plate umpire’s delay triggers online fury

The outrage online was instant. Fans couldn’t believe such a crucial World Series moment was ruined by one call. “What a do—– umpire omg,” one viewer wrote, echoing millions of frustrated voices. It wasn’t just anger — it was disbelief that a call was blown on baseball’s biggest stage, where every pitch counts.

Another viewer summed up the frustration: “Wtf is wrong with this umpire?” The outrage wasn’t just about one bad call — it was the delayed timing that threw the game into chaos. And it’s not the first time Wegner has faced criticism. Earlier in the season, during a Yankees–Mariners game, he called Jasson Domínguez out on a low fastball clearly below the zone, sparking an angry reaction and getting Aaron Boone ejected after confronting him.

The pitch location quickly became the center of controversy. “What a bad call from the umpire. That pitch was a ball,” one fan wrote, and sarcasm soon followed.

“The owner of a Robot Umpire company just made a million dollars.” Every blown call like this fuels the argument for robot umpires, which have already been successfully tested in the minors. The MLB Spring Training and the All-Star Game this year have seen some experimentation as well.

And this wasn’t just any game. It was Game 3 of the World Series, where both teams are vying to end a drought: either a title (Toronto’s first since 1993) or a back-to-back (Yankees last did it in 2000). As one fan summed it up, “An umpire cannot call that a strike in Game 3 of the f—–g World Series.” Regular-season errors fade; postseason blunders become unforgettable.

The conversation has now shifted into a new direction. Will MLB talk about late calls or zone accuracy during the World Series? How will teams get ready for calls that aren’t clear, especially when the stakes are so high?