Spring training may only be a few days old, but it’s already providing some drama.
The rivalry between St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and umpire C.B. Bucknor continued on Saturday, thanks to some alleged immature behavior from the longtime MLB official.
Marmol told reporters that Bucknor snubbed him when he offered to shake the umpire’s hand ahead of the Cardinals’ 3-2 spring training loss to the Washington Nationals.
“He didn’t extend his. He didn’t,” Marmol told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Dispatch. “The thing is when I think about it, I went into that game pretty certain of my thoughts on him as an umpire. Weren’t very good. And it just shows his lack of class as a man.”
The bad blood between Marmol and Bucknor stems from an encounter during a Cardinals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks contest last August. In the third inning, Bucknor ejected Marmol, who was arguing balls and strikes from the dugout. After being tossed from the game, Marmol charged home plate to share some rather animated comments with Bucknor. Following the game, Marmol accused Bucknor of questioning his tenure in the league during their heated exchange, all with a smirk on his face.
Spring training is long, and the baseball regular season is even longer, meaning Marmol and Bucknor will undoubtedly cross paths again throughout the year. We likely haven’t seen the last of this nasty feud.
