Top 10 Worst Major League Baseball Umpires

Major League Baseball is full of intense moments, dramatic plays, and passionate fans. But sometimes, the people calling the shots on the field, quite literally, end up stealing the spotlight, and not in a good way. Umpires play a crucial role in the game, tasked with making split-second decisions that can alter the course of a play or even an entire game. Unfortunately, not all of them are known for getting it right.

This list is all about those umpires who have frustrated players, managers, and fans alike with controversial calls, inconsistent strike zones, or decisions that have become infamous in the sport's history.

The Top Ten

  1. Angel Hernandez

    There's long been a huge problem with MLB umpires, stemming from the widespread attitude among them that it's THEIR game, that they OWN it. There's no respect for the strike zone. It's whatever a particular umpire feels like on any given day, and that's subject to change at any moment.

    They squawked like old biddies back in the late '90s when the overhead plate cams came in because they didn't want anyone to know how bad so many calls are. And too many infield umpires don't position themselves for a clear view of close plays. Finally, they're being challenged more often, and video doesn't lie. Suck it up.

    Angel Hernandez is by far the worst umpire. He always finds a way to mess up calls. For example, in the 2013 game between the Athletics and the Indians, A's Adam Rosales hit a fly ball to left field that hit the fence. Bob Melvin, the A's manager, came out and asked Hernandez to review the play. The replay showed that the ball hit the fence, but Hernandez upheld the call. Melvin came out to argue and was ejected. MLB later acknowledged that Hernandez's call was incorrect. Hernandez is just awful.

  2. Joe West

    Are you kidding me? Today, he threw Aaron Boone out in the 2nd or 3rd inning for arguing balls and strikes. But he was the third base umpire! Why? Because his work was so bad last night behind the plate, and Boone and Gardner got in his face about it, and he didn't eject them. Then the media criticized him heavily for how bad his work was, with many calling on him to retire because he has lost it.

    But his big ego prevails, and he is protected by a union that only wants to ensure that its employees have jobs, no matter how bad they are at them.

    Joe must go! Angel should be right behind him, and Ron Kulpa too. All should and could be replaced by robots.

    Shockingly bad for a long time. I assume he must have been good at some point in his career, but that ship has sailed. The only one who thinks he's doing a good job is Joe Torre.

  3. C. B. Bucknor

    Beautiful combination of a wildly inconsistent strike zone, bad calls around the entire diamond, and a fuse so short when he's called out that there's no doubt how well aware he is of just how bad he is.

    I don't understand how I can know he's a horrible umpire just by seeing him every now and then, but MLB can't see that he's a bad umpire. Shouldn't the worst two or three umpires be fired every year? That's how it is in real life.

    I have seen C.B. Bucknor intentionally make bad calls of strikes and balls and then laugh at the batter or pitcher. Bucknor is a pathetic sadist.

  4. Bob Davidson

    Short-tempered, especially against Joe Maddon and Charlie Manuel. I thought the incident between Bob and Charlie was hilarious, even though MLB suspended them both for one game.

    Davidson is probably the most controversial umpire, especially if you want to argue with him.

  5. Marty Foster

    He robbed the game away from the Rays in Texas by calling strike three on a full count from Ben Zobrist, even though the pitch was clearly out of the strike zone.

    Doesn't know a strike from a ball.

  6. Laz Díaz

    Along with Hernandez and Bucknor, you KNOW that you'll be amazed at how bad they are before the end of the first inning.

    This guy looks like someone who is recruited from off the street to ump a game because there's no one else around to do it. When you see him (or the other aforementioned clowns) on the diamond before the game starts, the first words out of your mouth are, "Oh no, NOT HIM!"

    He brings new meaning to the word INCOMPETENT.

    Awful strike zone. He may need new glasses. Pulls the ripcord on two strikes. Not sure he ever knows the count.

  7. Vic Carapazza

    I remember watching the Blue Jays game on Canada Day 2016. Vic Carapazza is the worst umpire in MLB.

  8. Phil Cuzzi

  9. Jerry Meals

    He blew the game for the Pirates, and it could have cost them playoff contention.

  10. Alfonso Márquez

    I am watching him tonight, and he can't call a strike unless the batter swings at it.

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Will Little

  12. ?

    Lance Barrett

    13. The Contenders

  13. Andy Fletcher

    Inconsistent strike zone. Short-tempered. Throws managers and players out of the game way too quickly.

  14. Ron Kulpa

    No mea culpa. Bad Ronald Clarence ends games when OpenTable calls.

    Disrespectful and unprofessional.

  15. Jim Joyce

    Cost a pitcher a major record. Pathetic at his "job." Should never work another game. Needs to be dropping fries.

  16. Fieldin Culbreth

  17. Chris Guccione

    Acts like the game is about him as much as the players. Terrible inconsistency with the strike zone. Will toss a player or coach from halfway across the diamond. This clown is a walking disaster.

    A hothead who initiates confrontations with players and managers.

  18. Mike Estabrook

  19. Doug Eddings

    It's the incredible vanishing strike zone! I guess he blows an equal number of calls for both teams, so that's fair, I guess. I wish he wouldn't call time *while the ball is traveling to the plate*, though.

  20. Mark Wegner

    This guy threw out a White Sox player for throwing a ball behind the batter (which didn't even hit him), and he was a rookie. Not to mention the atrocious strike zone.

  21. Tripp Gibson

    Needs remedial instruction on the strike zone. His ability to correctly recognize that a pitch is off the plate or low is nonexistent.

    Worst ball/strike umpire I've seen since Ken Kaiser. When Kaiser left the game, he gave his coin to Gibson (heads = strike, tails = ball).

    Needs remedial instruction on the strike zone. Simply ridiculous.

  22. Paul Emmel

    Extremely inconsistent strike zone. Pitches that are balls are called strikes and vice versa.

  23. Sam Holbrook

  24. Jordan Baker

  25. Gerry Davis

  26. Manny Gonzalez

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