Can you name the Worst Umpire in the MLB? by TheRealDovecote

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Worst Umpire in the MLB Quiz

by TheRealDovecote

Created Jun 3, 2010 in Sports
Game Plays 1,370

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	MM008:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 04:52 GMT	18 points
	He was out by a mile. Give him the perfect game for crying out loud. The umps have made quite a few horrible call these past few years. You know it should have been a perfect game, so give him it. Anybody else agree with me?

	YoshiEgg25:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:02 GMT	9 points
	Yeah, but the worst umpires are still Joe West and Tim McClelland. I don't care how bad the call was, these two do this for fun. Also, Bruce Froemming called a borderline 3-2 pitch a ball in 1972 with two outs in the 9th, knocking the Cubs' Milt Pappas down from a perfect game to a no-hitter. You can see him laughing after the pitch in replays.

	teffty24:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:28 GMT	11 points
	Joe WEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

	jmarshallg:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:34 GMT	6 points
	Where's CB Bucknor?

	Yankeefan138:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:37 GMT	28 points
	Completely unfair. The call was atrocious but to call him the worst umpire in the game is not even close to accurate. Unfortunate time for a mistake, that is all. Joe West is a plague upon the league.

	JGS:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:41 GMT	10 points
	Joe West, Angel Hernandez, Tim McClleland, CB Bucknor, Marty Foster, Bob Davidson...

	lilruss72:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:43 GMT	0 points
	wow stole my quiz lol

	OlmecDU:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:44 GMT	4 points
	Lot of AL East fans here ragging on Joe West. But you can't forget Denkinger from the 1985 World Series.

	Kevin:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 05:57 GMT	7 points
	Honestly, as badly as McClelland effed up last October, he's really been one of the better umpires. I guess that LCS game and tonight just go to show you that even the good ones make mistakes. Why, again, aren't we giving them backup?

	dan_f11:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 06:39 GMT	6 points
	Joe West wins. He's awful.

	SamuelGompers:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 06:46 GMT	17 points
	At least Joyce acknowledged that he blew the call and personally apologized. It's a shame that that happened, but everyone makes a mistake once in awhile. You've gotta give him some credit for at least admitting it.

	reyj:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 07:01 GMT	4 points
	even as an Indians fan he totally ****ed up a perfect game but at least he admitted it.

	cardspartan:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 07:02 GMT	10 points
	22 seasons, and multiple World Series under his belt. One call does not make him the worst. Oh and Olmec, Denkinger got that right in 85. :P

	schumatrix:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 07:16 GMT	5 points
	Gotta be West. Dude makes a living out of making the game about himself. I could care less about what he said earlier this year, but that guy's atrocious. The game which Roy Oswalt got tossed on Monday was called by Bill Honn. That guy called one of the worst, most inconsistent games I've ever seen.

	rtrbigdaddy:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 07:55 GMT	1 point
	The unfortunate thing here is...we remember the name of an umpire because of a bad call instead of Galaraga for his perfect game. Officials are like offensive lineman, you never hear their name unless they mess up on a play !! great game kid, great game...

	strags11:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 08:46 GMT	8 points
	You've obviously never umpired a game of baseball in your life, kid. The most difficult call for a first base ump is the one where the pitcher covers the bag. On a 'regular' ground ball, the ump watches the base while listening for the ball hitting the first baseman's mitt. On a bang-bang 3-1 or 4-1 play, the ump can't use his ears. He has to watch for two feet hitting the bag nearly simultaneously, while also ensuring that the ball beats the runner and that the pitcher has complete control of it. It's a brutal call to get right. (And, incidentally, Galarraga's glove hand hitched a bit after making the catch; even the outfield camera replay is inconclusive as to whether or not he juggled it.) Joyce has been one of the best umpires in baseball for years -- at worst, he made an incorrect call on a very close play at an inopportune time.

	y2jdilemma:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 09:03 GMT	1 point
	Strags, I hear you, but in that situation, you have to be 1000% sure Donald beat that out, and it wasnt really all that close. I agree with you its a tough call with all the different things going on, but for the 27th out of a perfect game you had better be POSITIVE beyond a shadow of a doubt that the guy is safe.

	bmo1616:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 10:51 GMT	12 points
	I originally was killing Joyce and calling him names like moron and idiot, but after time has passed, it was nice to see how both him and Galaragga acted with such great class afterwards. Unlike Joe West who would've never admitted to it and would probably complain how the 1 hour and 49 minute game was too long for him.

	wmccarthy3:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 GMT	8 points
	Although he obviously missed the call, coming forward and admitting he messed up is what the game needs much more of. Complete class act. Not to mention the poor kid Galaragga not letting his emotions take over or bitching about the call. Shame such a great umpire had to make such a bad call.

	strags11:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 13:07 GMT	5 points
	@y2jdilemma: Understood, but I'd argue exactly the opposite. On the 27th out of a perfect game, the ump needs to be 100% positive that the guy is OUT before calling him such. Imagine if replays showed that Donald clearly beat the throw, but Joyce called him out. Now there would be a different, far worse outrage: Galarraga undeservedly joined the ranks of PG pitchers. He'd have a virtual asterisk by his name forever. It's a very sad situation, especially to Tigers' fans, but if I had to choose between one blown call or the other, I'd choose the one that actually occurred. Galarraga will be remembered forever by baseball fans, not scorned forever.

	msteele13:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 13:21 GMT	-2 points
	only because it would have been the last out, the MLB needs to change the call so that he gets the perfect game total bull****

	tk925:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 14:13 GMT	4 points
	You have a typo -- C.B. Bucknor's not being accepted. Jim Joyce made a monumentally bad call, but it pales in comparison to Bucknor's profound incompetence. Twice he's been voted the worst umpire in baseball by 20+% of players. Considering there are 60 umpires, that's a truly astonishing level of agreement. What's more Joyce's call isn't even the worst call of the last year -- calling Joe Mauer's ball foul in the playoffs might have meant less to history, but that's a call that literally everyone who can see would have gotten right.

	SammyG:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 14:38 GMT	-1 points
	@strags11: you see guys end no hitters and perfect games on bad strike calls all the time, because the umpire wants to give them the perfect game. It would make sense if it was a hard grounder, and someone had to dive and make an offbalance throw, but this was a relatively easy chopper to the right side. It's not like people are often safe on plays like that. You HAVE to give the fielder the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

	MisterF:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 15:07 GMT	3 points
	Joyce is going to become the Bill Buckner of umpires- he's had a long, generally good career but he will most likely be remembered solely for one big mistake he made.

	alpha:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 15:18 GMT	0 points
	McLelland is by far the worst. He doesn't even know the rules. As evidenced by his reply to the "tie goes to the runner" question here:http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/feature.jsp?feature=mcclellandqa Quoting him: "There are no ties and there is no rule that says the tie goes to the runner. But the rule book does say that the runner must beat the ball to first base, and so if he doesn't beat the ball, then he is out." The rules say the exact opposite. Rule 6.05 a batter is out when "he or first base is tagged before he touches first base." So, in effect, a tie DOES go to the runner because the fielder isn't tagging him or the base BEFORE the runner touches first base.

	MStarJD:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 15:39 GMT	3 points
	As a Tigers fan, I'm not upset with Joyce. Human error, that many would have made. What I am upset with is that it's 2010, and baseball still won't use instant replay. Ridiculous. Get rid of Selig.

	donuthead247:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 15:55 GMT	2 points
	That's just mean. The guys was obviusly upset with himself after the game if you listened to his interview. He made one bad call; the world should just get off of his case. If you think's he's such a bad umpire, than you should go out there and do it yourself.

	csl:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 16:14 GMT	4 points
	I didn't even bother to take this quiz, because I didn't want to type Joyce's name as the worst ump in baseball. He clearly is not, for all the reasons listed in this thread.

	sweetT:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 16:46 GMT	0 points
	this is the worst quiz on facebook.

	kraffcook:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:08 GMT	0 points
	I'm pissed about the call too, but if you look at the initial view of the play, when the guy steps on first, he stepped, then bent his knee. The ump saw him bend his knee and thought that that was him putting his foot on the base, not realizing that his foot was already on it. It's a simple mistake that most people wouldn't care about if it wasn't the 27th out of a perfect game

	The:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:20 GMT	3 points
	I guess 20 years of service and thousands of correct calls that you couldn't make if you tried are all erased by one incorrect call in a tough situation? Strags makes an excellent point, blowing the call the OTHER way would have been far, far worse.

	YoshiEgg25:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:34 GMT	3 points
	@sweetT: It may be, except this isn't Facebook. Nice try though.

	truthless_czar:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:38 GMT	2 points
	i was furious, i mean how rare is a perfect game? baseball has been an organized sport since the 1880s and there's been 23 perfect games. that man will probably never have his chance again. for all i care, he had a perfect game

	ObamaWhitesox:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:40 GMT	1 point
	This is just one bad call at the EXACT wrong time. Twice, baseball players have been polled, and both times they said he was the 2nd best ump in the league. If Albert Pujols has one or two or three bad at-bats, is he the worst hitter in the league?

	lakercub:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 17:54 GMT	1 point
	At least Joyce has owned up to it: Greg Bonin Bill Hohn Joe West Bruce Froemming That's my list in no particular order. The problem with these idiots isn't just the missed calls. It's the confrontational crap afterword. Just like Joey Crawford in the NBA...can't stand him.

	RonTrauma:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 18:46 GMT	1 point
	Why oh Why does Joe West not work? This quiz is wrong.

	moflaffle:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 19:24 GMT	0 points
	Bud Selig says that he's not reversing the call. Now we need a "worst commisioner in sports" quiz.

	alpha:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 19:28 GMT	2 points
	Selig made the right choice. Reversing the call sets a very bad precedent. Change the rules to allow instant replays? Absolutely. Go back and change this? No.

	redsxfenway:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 19:42 GMT	1 point
	Wrong call? Yes. Worst umpire? absolutely not. I wouldn't even say it was a 'bad' call in the traditional sense. He was not out by a mile, it was less than half a step.

	IsThisIt:	Jun 3rd, 2010 at 19:59 GMT	2 points
	Make Angel Hernandez and CB Bucknor bonus answers. Those two are AWFUL.