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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MAY 31: Umpire CB Bucknor #54 looks on during the ninth inning between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees at T-Mobile Park on May 31, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Scroll down this page, and you are going to see two things. You are going to see Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers step on first base, beating out a wild throw from Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Ben Williamson. And yet somehow, some way, you are also about to see professional MLB umpire of 30 seasons, C.B. Bucknor, claim that he did not.
The incident occurred in the sixth inning of the Brewers’ 6-2 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night, and came on a broken play. Facing Rays reliever Cole Sulser, Bauers hit a line drive that was tailing away from Williamson, who laid out and was able to just about knock the ball down with the tip of his globe, but not catch it. Scrambling to try and make the out anyway, Williamson rushed a throw which missed first baseman Jonathan Aranda by quite some way, allowing Bauers to scuttle through to touch first unchallenged.
Unless, of course, you are C.B. Buckner. In which case, your mileage may vary.
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What The?
Seemingly, unable to look at each of Williamson, Bauers and the wild throw, Bucknor decided to make it easier for himself and just guess. Somehow, despite not even really looking in his direction, Bucknor decided that Bauers had not stepped on the bag, something which home plate umpire Dan Iassogna had to announce to the crowd, who were wondering why Bauers was called out when Williamson never got the throw to first.
Thankfully, due to the presence of the replay system, the injustice was overturned. The Brewers challenged the call, which was overturned almost instantly, and Bauers was allowed to remain at first base. The inning was allowed to continue, and after a stolen base and a subsequent double by Brandon Lockridge, Bauers ended up coming home to score the fifth run of the game.
The fact that the farcical situation was corrected, though, is not sufficient. Why was such a terrible call made in the first place? Did Bucknor guess, assume, or somehow not see something really obvious?
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Bucknor’s Cavalcade Of Errors
Controversy has followed Bucknor for much of his three-decade career, but in 2026, it has reached a new level of visibility. The difference now is not necessarily the mistakes themselves, but how clearly – and publicly – they are being exposed.
Bucknor has been a Major League umpire since 1996, and Major League Baseball has trusted him with high-profile games for years. At the same time, criticism has long been his partner on that journey. In player surveys conducted by Sports Illustrated in both 2003 and 2006, and later by ESPN in 2010, Bucknor was voted the worst umpire in baseball by his peers, to the point that perhaps an award should be named over him.
Earlier in the season, which is still barely a week old, Bucknor became the focal point of one of the clearest examples yet of how baseball’s new automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system is changing the sport. During a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox, eight of his calls were challenged, and six were overturned. The sequence that defined the game came in the sixth inning, when Bucknor called back-to-back strike threes on Eugenio Suárez, only for both to be overturned by the ABS system.
Were those the only errors, that would be one thing. But Bucknor has form, lots of it, and he just is not getting better. Umpires have always missed calls, but historically those errors were often forgotten. With ABS, they are measured and confirmed instantly; with the wider review system, there is even less forgiveness to be found. C.B. Bucknor might not like his reputation, but it does not come from guesswork, and it would be nice if his calls did not, either.
Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks
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