Seven major league umpires have told MLB they’ll take a buyout and retire after the 2026 season, and one of the names on that list is CB Bucknor, a figure who has long been a headache for Cardinals manager Oli Marmol.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Bucknor is joined by Laz Diaz, Brian O'Nara, Lance Barksdale, Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo, and Andy Fletcher in planning to step away at the end of the season.
Bucknor has been around the majors since 2000, making him one of the longest-tenured umpires in the game. He’s 63 now and has spent 26 years working big league games, a run that has worn on his strike-zone consistency. Umpire Scorecards ranks him as the 22nd-worst umpire in accuracy above expected when it comes to balls and strikes.
For the Cardinals, though, the bigger story is the history between Bucknor and Marmol. Since Marmol took over in St. Louis in 2022, Bucknor has worked 10 Cardinals games, and the two have crossed paths in plenty of tense moments.
That friction goes back to August 2022, when Bucknor ejected Marmol during an argument over balls and strikes. At one point, Bucknor told him, "You just got here!" Marmol fired back that Bucknor should retire, and now that wish is set to come true.
The next spring training brought another awkward scene. Bucknor was behind the plate for the Cardinals’ first game of the spring and declined to shake Marmol’s hand before first pitch.
"He has zero class as a man," Marmol told reporters after the game. The other three umpires - Angel Hernandez, Ron Kulpa, and Carlos Torres - did shake his hand, and the crew later apologized to Marmol on Bucknor’s behalf.
A few days later, Bucknor was back in a Cardinals game and did shake Marmol’s hand. The league treated the matter as settled and did not discipline either man.
Bucknor still managed to leave his mark on St. Louis in 2024, when a game that had already been delayed three hours by rain might have ended sooner if Bucknor had called for the stoppage earlier. Instead, it finished on a called strike that was several inches outside the zone, with Bucknor working behind the plate.
Now, with Bucknor set to retire after 2026, Marmol can at least know one familiar adversary is on the way out. Bucknor has not worked a Cardinals game this year and was behind the plate for only three last year, though he could still end up with one more St. Louis assignment before his career is over.
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