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Dodgers Announcers Not-So-Subtly Roasted Bad MLB Ump During First At-Bat of Game

Andy Nesbitt

Dodgers announcers were not impressed with C.B. Bucknor
Dodgers announcers were not impressed with C.B. Bucknor / @MLB
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The Los Angeles Dodgers' struggles continued Wednesday night as they fell to the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5. The loss dropped the defending champs out of first place in the NL West and it completed a season sweep of the Dodgers by the Angels, who won all six games against their crosstown rivals this year.

Notoriously bad MLB umpire C.B. Bucknor worked behind home plate in the series finale and it didn't take long for the Dodgers announcers to roast him.

Shohei Ohtani led off the game for Los Angeles and was quickly the victim of two bad calls by the veteran umpire.

"Ball. Excuse me, strike one," Stephen Nelson said after a low pitch was called a strike.

"You're going to have to wait tonight. We've got a veteran umpire behind the plate who is a ... veteran umpire," Eric Karros said.

The next pitch was inside but called a strike by Bucknor, which led to this line from Nelson:

"Geeeeeeez, alright, 2-and-2."

"I mean it's ball four, right?," said a frustrated Karros.

"Yeah, it's a four-pitch leadoff walk," Nelson said.

Here's that moment:

Ohtani got the last laugh in that at-bat as he hit a triple and then later scored a run.

Bucknor ended the first inning by ringing up Alex Freeland on a pitch that was outside. That led to Nelson saying: "Ball four for the strikeout!"

That was not the best of starts for an umpire who has become one of the worst in the game in recent years.

The Dodgers are now 68-53 with Wednesday night's loss and sit a game back of the San Diego Padres in the NL West.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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