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The New York Yankees are off to a strong start in 2024, but they have not been exempt from inconsistent umpiring. MLB umpiring has become a greater topic of discussion over the last few seasons as technology to judge umpires advances. Yankees legends Tino Martinez and Nick Swisher called out MLB umpiring and expressed their displeasure with how things are done currently, according to Fox News’ Scott Thompson.
Martinez was a two-time All-Star and played for the Yankees for seven seasons. Swisher’s lone All-Star selection came during his four seasons with the Yankees. Combined the two have 23 years of major league experience and have won five World Series.
Inconsistent Umpiring
“It’s always been that way,” Martinez said about how games are being called behind the plate. “There’s good umpires and there’s bad umpires. Some umpires enjoy being bad umpires. They like to get on the fans’ nerves and those guys know who they are. I think that’s part of their deal, but it’s unclear to players in certain games, especially the playoffs and World Series”
Martinez also pointed out how the “best umpires” are the ones who should be out there every day.
“Veteran umpires like Angel Hernandez, C.B. Bucknor and Doug Eddings are just a few of the well-known umpires who have made bad calls, some of which have greatly impacted the result of games,” wrote Thompson.
On May 4, Yankees Aaron Judge was ejected for the first time in his career. He disagreed with a called third strike by umpire Ryan Blakney and said some words while walking away. He was tossed and Anthony Rizzo described the umpire as “being a little sensitive.”
“That’s terrible,” Martinez said. “Aaron Judge never loses his temper and he didn’t in that situation either. He walked away, he wasn’t in the umpire’s face. He walked away like he should’ve done, and he put him out, which was a little too much by the umpire.”
Swisher agreed adding that Judge “didn’t say anything” that warranted an ejection.
Automated Strike Zone
On May 4, Bucknor called out a St. Louis Cardinals batter to end the game, after a three-hour delay, on a seemingly outside pitch. Swisher called out umpires for impacting the outcomes of games like this.
“Listen, man, there’s some systems in place that we have as athletes,” Swisher said. “If you don’t post [good stats], prepare and compete properly at the big league level, you get demoted to the minor leagues. So, I think the same should be for umpires as well. Why should you not want to have a tier system, just like what Max Scherzer was saying? I thought there was a lot of validity to that.”
Scherzer suggested a system where MLB ranks umpires using the automated strike zone currently being implemented in the minors. The system allows players to challenge balls and strikes. While unavailable to players in the majors, the system could grade umpires, allowing the MLB to rank them.
The automated strike zone has received backlash from traditionalists, including former Yankees. Martinez believes umpires should be part of the game. However, they should be only the best.
“I like the old-fashioned umpire, but again, getting the No. 1 top umpires out there. Not just the guys who are there because they’ve had time in the big leagues,” said Martinez.
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