There’s no denying that Major League umpires have an incredibly difficult job. They’re tasked with making split-second decisions on pitches coming in at triple-digit velocity and ridiculous movement. But they’re also supposed to be the best umpires in the world, which has made some of the umpiring mistakes we’ve seen this season all the more perplexing.
About a week after umpire Hunter Wendelstedt made easily the worst strikeout call we’ll see this season, umpire Ed Hickox might have made the worst ball call of the season. With Cody Bellinger at the plate against the White Sox’s Dylan Cease, Bellinger was frozen on a nasty knuckle curve with late movement over the heart of the plate.
It clearly fooled Hickox too because the longtime umpire called the pitch a ball.
Ed Hickox with possibly the worst ball call in the history of baseball. pic.twitter.com/asVYI9BVeT
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) June 9, 2022
I mean, how? (Note: expand tweet)
Ed Hickox should be put in prison pic.twitter.com/sLHFXiw2v4
— Kevin Sullivan (@KevinSullivan9) June 9, 2022
Fortunately for the White Sox, the call didn’t have much of an impact because Bellinger would strike out a couple pitches later. But man, MLB fans were not happy to see an umpire calling a middle-middle pitch a ball.
