Ever since former umpire Angel Hernandez retired last year, notoriously bad umpire CB Bucknor has seemingly been looking to take over as "the worst guy working behind home plate." And he only added to his resume on Saturday, when he missed a season-high 28 calls during the Cincinnati Reds-Cardinals game in St. Louis.
You read that right, 28 missed calls. By a professional umpire.
Yikes.
Bucknor hasn't had a great year this season. He had a mind-boggling call in an Orioles-Nationals game in April, and in May was trolled by Max Scherzer, who mocked Bucknor by pretending to flip a coin to decide balls and strikes.
That all set the stage for Saturday's performance, which was really bad:
Umpire CB Bucknor missed a SEASON HIGH 28 calls in the Cardinals Reds game.
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) June 22, 2025
Bucknor is ranked 84th of 89 umpires this season. pic.twitter.com/F8JnjDtPLh
Brutal.
Fans roasted Bucknor and MLB:
Many around MLB surprised he made the top 85 https://t.co/4To8t1QTFS
— Mike Morgan (@MorganOnAir) June 22, 2025
It's terrifying to think that there are still FIVE umpires ranked worse https://t.co/CRl5OKMFkX
— Nelson Matamoros (@nelsonmatamoros) June 22, 2025
There are 5 worse than him? https://t.co/281ePwkOFF
— Joshua Lovern (@joshualovern87) June 22, 2025
CB needs to go. MLB can't keep letting umpires like this continue to cause damage to the integrity of the game https://t.co/hRLOjUL8Sk
— ESPN Albuquerque 101.7FM The TEAM (@1017theteam) June 22, 2025
The Cardinals wound up winning the game, 6-5, but Bucknor was the real story of the day, which isn't a great look for the league.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Notoriously Bad MLB Ump Breaks 2025 Season Record With Huge Number of Missed Calls.
