Baseball fans want Major League Baseball to fire home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor ASAP after an alarming number of missed balls and strike calls during the Toronto Blue Jays-Cleveland Guardians game on Friday night.

Max Scherzer and D.B. Bucknor (Photos via Sportsnet)

The popular @UmpireAuditor X/Twitter account tracks the performance of home plate umpires, using the digital strike zone box shown on television. According to Umpire Auditor, C.B. Bucknor missed 11 calls over the first four innings.

And to make matters more controversial, nine of those calls went against the Blue Jays. It got so bad that Toronto pitcher Max Scherzer (on the injured list with thumb inflammation) mocked Bucknor by pretending to flip a coin:

Umpire Auditor compiled a video of C.B. Bucknor’s awful series of missed calls:

Predictably, Bucknor’s performance behind home plate led to plenty of angry reactions from MLB fans who want him fired

“why do you put up with this. Very bad for the integrity of the game,” a fan wrote.

“CB Bucknor deserves to be no where near the major leagues,” said another.

“Death, taxes, and ex-Nats hating C.B. Bucknor,” said a fan.

“CB Bucknor needs to get the same MLB deal Ángel Hernández got,…. fired with a parting bonus,” said a user.

“Investigate him,” wrote another.

“Are they ever held accountable for being awful at their jobs? I understand they have a Union but still,” a fan quipped.

Since they’re part of a union, MLB umpires realistically can’t be fired based solely on their game-to-game performances. Pat Hoberg was fired in February for violating MLB’s gambling policy, a far more sinister offense than botching balls and strike calls.

The Blue Jays went on to win 5-3 in the series opener, meaning C.B. Bucknor got to avoid further scrutiny. Still, his performance on Friday night is just another easy case for MLB to introduce automated strike zones.

C.B. Bucknor Has Been An MLB Umpire Since 1996

Brandon Marsh and C.B. Bucknor (Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
The 62-year-old Bucknor joined Major League Baseball as an umpire in 1996, starting in the National League for four seasons. Bucknor has worked two MLB All-Star games, five Division Series and two Wild Card Games/Series.