MLB fans laugh at umpire’s hilarious reaction to own call

A day after he ejected Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker for clapping, Alfonso Márquez was the third base umpire for the third game of the series between the Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants. There was nothing too controversial about Márquez’s game, but he did inspire laughter with one of his calls.

With Arizona leading 7-2, San Francisco’s Blake Sabol came to the plate with two outs and two men on. Arizona pitcher Kyle Nelson worked the count to 1-2, then threw a slider in the dirt, trying to get Sabol to chase.

Sabol initially offered but tried to check his swing. When the appeal went to Márquez at third base, he ruled that Sabol had gone around, therefore ending the game. At a glance, the call did not appear to be bad. While no replay was shown, it looked to be in the 50-50 zone. And even if Márquez made the wrong call, he’d hardly be the first umpire to look for strikes in the ninth inning of a lopsided game.

Sabol didn’t seem to think that he went around. But even that isn’t notable. What was notable is that judging by his reaction, Márquez himself didn’t seem especially convinced that it was a swing. It was perhaps a real-life example of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.

Because while Márquez’s right arm forcefully ruled that it was a strike, his left arm was much less sure, simply shrugging.

Baseball fans seemed to get a kick out of Márquez’s shrug.

https://t.co/E2Ys7wDmtd pic.twitter.com/nOXHsGFoIE

— Alan Gerard (@Wxmanms1) May 14, 2023

[Photo Credit: NBC Sports Bay Area]