Maybe home plate umpire Scott Barry just wanted to end the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. Or … he needs to get his vision checked.
Those are the only two reasons I can think of for this strike call that has gone very, very viral for all the wrong reasons.
The Cubs ended up beating the Pirates 18-8 on Monday, and Barry — who has made a bad call before — decided to call a 42 MPH pitch from Pittsburgh position player Rowdy Tellez a strike … even though you can see just how far off the plate it was.
Per Umpire Auditor, that’s the worst call in their history:
Umpire Scott Barry called the worst strike in Umpire Auditor history.
This lob from Rowdy Tellez missed the strike zone by 14.6 inches.#Pirates #Cubs pic.twitter.com/bs2GoG9JN4
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) August 27, 2024
The Worst Strike Call of the Year. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/4CUkHZfE9h
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 27, 2024