SI

MLB Umpire Made One of the Worst Calls You'll Ever See During Blue Jays-Orioles Game

Right down the middle for... Ball two?

Tim Capurso

You have to see this call by home-plate umpire Brian Walsh to believe it.
You have to see this call by home-plate umpire Brian Walsh to believe it. / Screengrab Twitter @JomboyMedia
In this story:

Listen, we get it. Being an MLB umpire is undoubtedly a difficult job. Most nights, you can probably bank on somebody being angry with you. But sometimes, an umpire makes a call so egregious that there's simply no way to rationalize it. That exact scenario occurred during Monday's game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.

In the top of the fourth inning with no outs and the Orioles leading 6-3, righthander Zach Eflin had a 1-0 count on Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement. Eflin then delivered a 90 mph sinker right down the middle, about as close to a perfect pitch as you can get.

Home plate umpire Brian Walsh called it a ball. The Orioles broadcast was flabbergasted.

Perhaps Walsh zoned out as the pitch was being thrown. Maybe he was thinking about his plans for after the game. Either way, there's no excuse for missing that call.

Umpire Scorecards rates Walsh as a slightly above average caller of balls and strikes, so maybe this was simply an off-pitch for him. It's one he'll definitely want back when he sees replays.

Calls like this one aren't going to slow baseball's seemingly inevitable march towards the Automated Ball-Strike system, which commissioner Rob Manfred would like to see implemented in the big leagues next season.

Free Newsletter. Subscribe to SI:AM. Wake Up With SI:AM. dark

More MLB on Sports Illustrated

feed

Published
Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

Home/MLB