Baseball fans will only have three to four more months to gripe about longtime umpire C.B. Bucknor.
Bucknor, 63, has accepted MLB’s buyout offer and will retire after the season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports.
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Beginning as a National League umpire in 1996, Bucknor officiated games throughout MLB when the NL and AL umpiring staffs merged in 2000 following a labor dispute. Following the retirement of Phil Cuzzi in February, Bucknor became the longest-tenured active umpire in the majors.
However, Bucknor has not worked a game since taking a foul ball to his face mask during an April 1 matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. During the second inning of that game, Rays catcher Nick Fortes fouled off a 100.2 mph inside fastball from Jacob Misiorowski and the ball went directly into Bucknor’s mask. The umpire went to his knees after the impact.
After being evaluated by trainers, Bucknor was able to stand up without assistance but was advised to leave the game.
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Bucknor has not umpired a MLB game since then. But The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported in late May that he continued to be sidelined for health reasons, not due to any sort of disciplinary measures.
“He isn’t being benched,” a source told Rosenthal. “That’s not a real thing.”
Bucknor has long been criticized for his performance as an umpire. Two surveys of players by Sports Illustrated in 2003 and 2006 named him as the worst umpire in MLB. He also topped another player survey conducted by ESPN in 2010 as the worst among his peers.
The veteran umpire has been further scrutinized this season with MLB’s implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system. In a March 28 game between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds, Bucknor had two strike-three calls overturned by ABS. Overall, ABS overturned six ball-strike calls from Bucknor working home plate.
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“It wasn’t his best day,” then-Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterwards, via The Athletic.
Bucknor was part of an umpiring crew with Dan Iassogna (crew chief), Jeremie Rehak and Adam Beck.
He joins six other major-league umpires who will take MLB’s buyout and finish their careers following the 2026 campaign. Laz Diaz, Brian O’Nora, Lance Barksdale, Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo and Andy Fletcher are the six umpires who will join Bucknor in retirement.
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