The Red Sox-Reds second game had all the ingredients fans expect from a baseball game. It had two teams pushing each other to the limit till the 11th inning, toe-to-toe fights, and balls flying over the stands. However, what stood out was a controversial umpire’s decision. The eighth inning saw the Red Sox shortstop, Trevor Story, called out on a check swing by the home plate umpire, CB Bucknor. Things escalated and led to the ejection of the Red Sox manager, Alex Cora. However, this drew the wrath of Red Sox nation as Bucknor continued to make blunders.

“Alex Cora was ejected by CB Bucknor for arguing this check swing call on Trevor Story. Bucknor did not appeal to the first base umpire on the check swing, and he has already had several calls overturned on ABS challenges in today’s game,” Jomboy Media shared via X.

In the 8th inning, Story took the plate with two outs on the board and two runners on base. A low splitter by the Reds’ Emilio Pagan was too low to hit the strike zone. Story noticed and just held off from making the final swing. But for Bucknor, that was a swing, and he called a strike. Result? The Red Sox’s inning came to an end.

However, Bucknor unexpectedly didn’t consult with the first base umpire before taking the call that infuriated Cora. While Story was surprised and took on the umpire, as the Reds’ dugout cheered, Cora took the field and pulled Story away. But only to lead the fight with Bucknor. After some visual expression, Bucknor ejected Cora, only to escalate the issue further.

“Trevor is playing short. I always say the last time he made an error was in 2011. The last time I got a hit was in 2011. I have a job to do in the dugout, and at that moment it was to protect Trevor.” Cora said after the game why he got involved and protected Story from getting ejected.

However, while Cora took the high road after the game about Bucknor, fans seem in no mood to leave things unanswered.

“He has one job to do, call balls and strikes, and it wasn’t his best day. That’s what this (ABS) system does. It’s out there, and everyone sees it. He’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down after one of the challenges, and we’re all human. It’s not easy to do what we do and what he does.” Cora said as the Red Sox lost all their challenges early.

The game saw a total of 8 challenges against Bucknor’s calls, and 6 of them got overturned. Maybe this one would also have been overturned if the team had any challenges left. However, the fans are left wondering about how Bucknor is still making things difficult for the teams despite his past controversial decisions.

CB Bucknor gets called out by the Red Sox fans

Red Sox fans wonder if Angel Hernandez is back again on the home plate. “CB Bucknor is the new Angel Hernandez,” one fan said. Well, Hernandez typically ranked among the lowest-rated umpires in MLB. And why? In 2023, he recorded 161 incorrect calls in just 10 games, and in April 2024, he recorded the largest missed strikeout calls in Umpire Auditor history. So, as per the Red Sox fans, while Hernandez retired in 2024, Bucknor is gradually taking his place. 

An appeal to the first base umpire would have resolved the issue. However, Bucknor chose to ignore. “CB has to be either gambling or blind. There is no way you don’t appeal to first base unless you are ignorant or intentionally trying to ruin the integrity of baseball. He is a complete joke of an umpire!” One Red Sox fan said.

On the replay, it looked like Story did check his swing, and that the at-bat should have continued. So, fans wonder why not ask the first base umpire for the call. In the case of check swing, first base umpires have a superior, angled view of the batter’s bat relative to the plate. So, they would have had a better picture of whether the batter took a swing or not. However, Bucknor called the strike by himself, causing a meltdown in the Red Sox dugout.

“Can’t call balls, can’t call strikes, can’t call swings. How does he even have a job at this point?” Another fan added. “Why is CB still employed by the MLB? Can someone please explain? This guy’s been terrible and the joke of everyone for years,” another added.

Notably, Bucknor was voted the worst umpire in MLB three separate times (2003, 2006, and 2010) in surveys conducted by ESPN. Moreover, despite being a veteran umpire, he has never officiated in the World Series, which is rare, a fact that validates the fans’ criticism. Even in this game, Eugenio Suarez challenged two back-to-back calls of Bucknor in the 6th inning, and both were overturned.

So, the fans wonder why MLB is fielding an umpire with such controversial stats.

“Need to do like minor leagues, camera review 45-degree angle criteria,” one user suggests a solution.

Reportedly, MLB is testing a “Check Swing Challenge” system in the minor leagues that uses Hawk-Eye cameras to define a swing as the bat moving more than 45 degrees relative to its starting position.

So, it might come in handy in the future, but for now, we are skeptical that the issues faced by the Red Sox would not be repeated.