The Toronto Blue Jays enjoyed an eventful offseason after falling short in the World Series, acquiring new stars like Kazuma Okamoto and saying goodbye to long-time ones like Bo Bichette.
Among those transactions, the team welcomed back future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer with a one-year, $3 million contract. Obviously, the Blue Jays liked what they saw from Scherzer during his debut with the team last year.
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That debut included 82 strikeouts across 17 starts and a resurgent playoff performance. But it also included a more dubious moment in the dugout.
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During a game against the Boston Red Sox last season, the broadcast camera caught Scherzer mocking home plate umpire CB Bucknor. Scherzer was pretending to flip a coin after teammate Chris Bassitt through a pitch, apparently accusing Bucknor of deciding strike and ball calls randomly.
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“Max Scherzer was mocking home plate umpire CB Bucknor, suggesting that he was flipping a coin to make his calls,” Jomboy Media wrote alongside a video of the gesture shared on X, formerly Twitter.
That video went viral almost instantly, accumulating more than 2.5 million views on social media. And now the veteran hurler has addressed the fallout by revealing that he was fined for the mockery.
“I got fined for that,” Scherzer told the “Blue Jays Today” podcast this week. “No one knew where the strike zone was, on both sides, and so that game was very inconsistent… Of course, it got on TV and then I’ve got to get a suspension.”
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Scherzer added that he issued a personal apology to Bucknor, who has worked in the major leagues since 2000, in addition to taking the punishment.
“The next day, I saw CB in the tunnel and I apologized to him because I wasn’t trying to make a big thing about it but, you know, when you get caught doing something bad you’ve got to atone for it,” Scherzer said on “Blue Jays Today.” “So I told CB I was sorry and I also wrote a check to say I’m sorry as well.”
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Scherzer, nicknamed “Mad Max” for his intense mound presence, has accomplished a lot in his 18-year career and some punishment for lightly mocking an umpire is unlikely to faze him. But as the Blue Jays reload in search of a championship next season, they’ll be hoping he can make more headlines for his performance in games rather than from the dugout.