Umpiring is a difficult job -- a thankless one that results in more criticism than praise. That said, woo boy is CB Bucknor having a bad few days.
We highlighted Bucknor's foul-ball call that (wrongly) extended Tuesday's Washington Nationals-Atlanta Braves game. If you missed it, here's what happened:
Bucknor, for whatever reason, thought Chase d'Arnaud had fouled off a Shawn Kelley offering. Replays showed d'Arnaud had not. Bucknor, nonetheless, brought everyone back onto the field to finish the game. Once the game resumed, d'Arnaud struck out, and that was that -- so far as the game went, anyway, because Jayson Werth got in Bucknor's face.
Werth had added incentive for being ticked -- check out the pitch Bucknor rung up Werth on earlier in the night:
Jayson Werth was livid after the game. C.B. Bucknor's zone on his 4th inning strikeout probably lit that fuse. Check out that called third. pic.twitter.com/DpAuUQAveT
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) April 19, 2017
On Wednesday, Bucknor called this Bryce Harper batted ball a catch. Yes, really:
"He's OUT!"
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) April 20, 2017
C.B. Bucknor gonna C.B. Bucknor pic.twitter.com/bXqoNGHS6M
Fortunately, for the Nationals, the other umpires got together and overruled Bucknor's error, awarding Harper a single.
Predictably, Twitter has had some fun with Bucknor's questionable calls, including the Braves' television partner:
Where's C.B. Bucknor when you need him..
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) April 20, 2017
Freddie's on-base streak ends at 12. #Braves pic.twitter.com/erbCxQLtKy
The CB Bucknor Experience pic.twitter.com/PuyT6Id13w
— Josh (@_jmc21) April 20, 2017
On the bright side, the week is almost over. On the less-bright side, Bucknor's shaky umpiring is likely to continue beyond this week.