C.B. Bucknor has got to be the only person on Earth wishing that Angel Hernandez was still an active major league umpire. Ever since Hernandez abruptly retired in 2024, the search for baseball's new bad-call bogeyman has been on. It seems that the spotlight is settling on Bucknor, who has long matched Hernandez in inaccuracy if not infamy.
Over the weekend, Bucknor became the sullen face of the ABS era when baseball fans discovered how much fun it is to watch an umpire get humiliated in front of a packed stadium over and over again. Bucknor had six of his strike calls overturned while behind the plate during Saturday's Red Sox–Reds game, including two would-be third strikes on back-to-back challenges. Bucknor was the first-base umpire in Tuesday night's game between the Brewers and Rays, and managed to step in it even without ABS looking over his shoulder.
In the sixth inning, Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers hit an infield single. There was a bit of confusion following the play, because Bucknor had called Bauers out despite the throw to first sailing far wide of Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda's glove. As Bauers was walking back to first base, Aranda decided to tag him just in case he had initially missed the bag, at which point Bucknor decided that, yes, Bauers had failed to touch first and was therefore out. The only problem was that Bauers had clearly touched first. I don't mean that he grazed the corner of the bag while running at a sprint; he put his whole foot in the middle of the damn base. It is not possible to touch first more solidly or obviously than this:
CB Bucknor strikes again, this time saying the runner did not touch first base. He very clearly did pic.twitter.com/zn6k9RtLXl
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 1, 2026
The Brewers challenged the call, which was immediately overturned, and then everybody, including managers Kevin Cash and Pat Murphy, spent a few seconds laughing in disbelief at what Bucknor had almost gotten away with.
"I'm not going to criticize that," said Murphy after the game, perhaps understanding that he'll have better opportunities to rub Bucknor's nose in it in the near future. Bucknor will be behind the plate for this afternoon's game.
