The ongoing feud between St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and umpire C.B. Bucknor continues to make headlines in 2023. On Saturday, during the Cardinals’ spring training opener against the Washington Nationals, Marmol and Bucknor found themselves on the same field, and Marmol revealed after the game that Bucknor had declined his offer for a handshake during the pregame meeting between managers and umpires.
This incident did not improve Marmol’s opinion of Bucknor, who is widely regarded as one of the most maligned umpires in the league. Marmol publicly criticized Bucknor for his lack of class, saying “I don’t think he’s good at his job, and it just shows a lack of class as a man. That’s my thoughts on it.”
The feud between Marmol and Bucknor dates back to an incident during a game between the Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks on August 21, 2022. Bucknor, working as the home plate umpire, called a clearly inside pitch as a strike on Cardinals star Nolan Arenado. The call was bad enough to trigger instant laughter from the broadcast and some muted criticism from Arenado, which Bucknor reacted to by boisterously ejecting the third baseman. Marmol then confronted Bucknor and the two had a face-to-face shouting match before another umpire intervened.
Marmol told reporters that the other three umpires in Saturday’s game — Angel Hernandez, Carlos Torres and Ron Kulpa — all shook his hand and apologized for their colleague’s behavior. The Nationals went on to win the game 3-2.
It appears that the feud between Marmol and Bucknor is far from over, and it could be a thorn in the side of both men for some time to come. With the two men likely to face each other again in the future, it’s worth keeping an eye on how the situation develops.
