‘World’s Worst Umpire’ C.B. Bucknor Has 6 Key Calls Overturned By New ABS System In Red Sox-Reds Game

Umpire C.B. Bucknor has had a rough start to the season.

In a March 28 game between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds, he missed six calls that had to be overturned with the new ABS system. In a March 31 game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, he said a runner didn’t touch first base, but replay showed the runner very clearly did touch first base. 

Six calls overturned by ABS don’t even tell the full story. In the eighth inning, Trevor Story checked his swing. Bucknor ruled him out without checking with the first-base umpire. Red Sox manager Alex Cora went out to argue the call and got ejected. 

“He has one job to do. It wasn’t his best day,” Cora said. 

Although umpires will always get a few strike-zone calls wrong, his mistake on March 31 went far beyond human error. Brewers hitter Jake Bauers was running to first base. The first base umpire ruled him safe, but Bucknor ruled that Bauers never touched the bag. Brewers manager Pat Murphy immediately challenged this. The replay showed that Bauer clearly touched the bag. It also showed that Bucknor wasn’t even looking at the play as it happened. 

“What was he looking at?” Brewers broadcaster Jeff Levering said. 

Even Rays manager Kevin Cash found the situation humorous, even though his team ended up with another runner on base. 

Bucknor has been an MLB umpire since 1996. Despite this, he consistently ranks among the worst umpires in baseball. Umpire Scorecards tracks umpires’ correct and incorrect calls and grades them. In 2025, Bucknor had the third-lowest grade at -20. So far in 2026, Bucknor has the lowest grade at -12. 

Despite his poor performances, the umpires union is unlikely to let Bucknor be fired. 

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Article by Matthew Mendives