Former MLB star has choice words for umpire

Major League Baseball umpiring continues to be a source of frustration for MLB players and managers. It’s also a source of frustration for announcers and analysts. That was certainly the case on Friday. After the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2 at Wrigley Field, former Cub Jon Lester expressed some frustration on Marquee Sports Network.

Cliff Floyd, Lester’s fellow studio analyst, singled out two calls in particular.

One came in the sixth inning, when Ian Happ came to the plate with one out and runners on first and second. It was a chance for the Cubs to cut into their 5-0 deficit. Arizona’s Ryne Nelson’s 2-2 pitch was outside. But Ortiz called it a strike, sending Happ back to the dugout. In the eighth inning, Chicago’s Christopher Morel came up in a similar situation, with one out and runners on first and second. But with the score now 5-2, Morel represented the possible tying run. Arizona’s Ryan Thompson’s pitch was below the zone. But as he had done with Happ in the sixth inning, Ortiz called Morel out looking.

Lester then spoke not only on the significance of those calls, but also explained the frustration that players have.

“At the end of the day for players, where you have kind of this disgruntled feeling is, we have repercussions for our actions, right? Like, if I don’t pitch well, you don’t hit well, you get sent down. There’s no real repercussions for umpires. You can be bad, or be okay, and you have a job for as long as you want to do it. Right? So, it’s frustrating on that end. The tough part about that, is both of those counts were 2-2. Now they go 3-2 and now the guy’s got to make a pitch with two guys on. That changes not only that at-bat, but maybe that inning.”

It’s tough to dispute Lester’s claims when we consider the following.

Ángel Hernández was widely regarded as MLB’s worst umpire for the last several years of his career. Yet, his retirement earlier in the 2024 season brought an end to a career that lasted over 30 years. Hernández’s retirement was largely met with excitement around baseball.

One person who did not seem too happy about Hernández was another longtime umpire, Joe West, who defended Hernández as an umpire. West is another umpire who perfectly exemplifies Lester’s point. West was not only regarded as a poor umpire late in his career but had conduct issues. It was not infrequent to watch an argument between West and a player or manager that was instigated by the umpire . Despite that, West retired after the 2021 season having umpired more games than anyone in MLB history.

In 2022, longtime umpire Laz Díaz took to social media to blast former MLB player Will Middlebrooks, who was critical of umpires. Díaz said , “You as a player was supposed to be an outright superstar & you didn’t live up to that. So it’s the umpire’s fault.” And while that was meant to be a dig at Middlebrooks, who wasn’t actually blaming umpires for his disappointing career, it really only proves Lester’s point. Middlebrooks was a highly touted player who, for various reasons, didn’t work out. Because of that, he played for four teams over six seasons in a career that lasted 347 games.

That’s a far cry from the lack of repercussions Lester spoke of on Friday.

[Photo/Video Credit: Marquee Sports on X ]

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