Feb 17, 2023; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol addresses the media during spring training. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol reignited a feud with umpire CB Bucknor on Saturday after the first spring training game of the season.
Marmol had a memorable confrontation with Bucknor while arguing balls and strikes during a game last August. A viral lip-reading video suggested that Marmol had told Bucknor that he needed to retire, and Bucknor responded by calling out Marmol’s lack of experience (warning: NSFW language).
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol tells umpire CB Bucknor that he needs to retire, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/6JhSrmFBOV
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) August 28, 2022
Apparently, the bad feelings carried over to 2023. After Saturday’s game, Marmol said Bucknor had refused to shake his hand prior to the game against Washington, and accused the umpire of having “zero class as a man.” The Cardinals manager even added that Bucknor’s fellow umpires apologized for Bucknor’s behavior.
All three other umpires, including Angel Hernandez, shook Marmol’s hand and apologized for Bucknor’s behavior.
Marmol said he approached Bucknor with a handshake out of respect
Now? “I think he has zero class as a man.” #STLCards https://t.co/AilS14YRs7
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) February 25, 2023
If Bucknor wants to hold a grudge against Marmol for essentially calling him washed up, that’s one thing from a human perspective. However, a level of professionalism is necessary for an umpire, and if Bucknor is not going to uphold those standards, he probably shouldn’t be working any Cardinals games at the very least.
Bucknor already had a reputation for being a rather poor umpire, and Marmol is far from the only manager who has had issues with him. Petty grudges are not going to help that reputation.
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