It would be an understatement to say that 2023 has been a rough year for Major League Baseball umpires.
Having said that, umpire Bruce Dreckman may be responsible for the single worst strike call of the entire season – and maybe longer than that.
During Tuesday’s matchup between the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox, Justin Turner faced a full count against pitcher Robert Garcia.
It was a key point in the game, which was a very important one for the playoff-striving Red Sox. Garcia’s missed by a mile and Turner started to make his ball-four trek to first base.
The only problem was it wasn’t ball-four. Dreckman inexplicably called Turner out on strike 3 despite the pitch not being anywhere close to the strike zone.
The ridiculous call drew an immediate reaction from Nationals commentator Kevin Frandsen, who exclaimed: “Oh my goodness, that is awful!”
Nats broadcast on Turner getting called out on strikes: "oh my goodness, that is awful." pic.twitter.com/fSoUEIiXLL
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 16, 2023
Umpire Auditor, a platform dedicated to tracking umpire accuracy, determined to have missed outside by a staggering 5.42 inches, making it the third-worst blown strikeout call of the entire season.
The gravity of the situation just amplified the mistake even more.
Turner’s reaction to the call was captured on camera, as he placed his hands over his head in disbelief. Despite being robbed of a walk, Turner managed to maintain his composure, which was somewhat surprising given how extreme the mistake was.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, they still managed to win the game 5-4 despite Dreckman’s horrendous mistake.
Is this the single worst call of the entire 2023 season?
What is the worst strike 3 call you’ve ever seen?