Veteran Major League Baseball umpire C.B. Bucknor will retire at the end of the 2026 season, ending a three-decade career that was as controversial as it was long.
Bucknor is one of seven umpires who accepted Major League Baseball’s voluntary buyout offer as he chose to step down prior to the league’s full implementation of the Automated Strike System (ABS). According to Bob Nightingale of USA Today,
Other referees who will take the buyout are Laz Diaz, Brian Onora, Lance Barksdale, Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo and Andy Fletcher.
Nightingale suggests that retirement could make way for Jane Powell to become the first woman to be a full-time MLB umpire during the 2027 season.
Bucknor, 63, made his debut as a National League umpire in 1996 before joining the full MLB staff in 2000.
Over the course of his career, he has played in more than 4,000 regular season games, earned assignments in the 2005 and 2021 All-Star Games and officiated multiple division series.
Despite these accomplishments, he became one of the most polarizing umpires in baseball due to his strike zone and several highly publicized missed calls, which has become more famous in recent years.
During Opening Week, six strike calls were overturned by the ABS while operating behind the plate during a game between the Reds and Red Sox.
The umpire’s scorecards later credited him with missing 26 punt calls in that contest, one of the highest totals recorded during the opening week of the season.
Just days later, he missed an obvious call at first base during a game between the Brewers and Rays, a decision that was quickly overturned on replay and drew laughter from both dugouts.
Bucknor often found himself at the center of criticism for his work behind the plate. Many routinely questioned his consistency, and with good reason. His accuracy behind the plate is said to be 92 percent, well below the MLB average, according to UmpScorecards.com.
In Sports Illustrated’s player polls in 2003 and 2006, he was Vote for the worst judge In MLB.
that ESPN poll of active players in 2010 I came to the same conclusion.
With the ABS expected to play a larger role in future seasons, the veteran umpire has chosen to withdraw on his own terms, which may come as a relief to baseball players, fans and others moving forward.