For as bad as MLB umpiring has been this season, these past few days of college baseball regionals almost make you appreciate what big-league umpires do out there. It’s been that bad.
On Monday, home plate umpire Perry Costello actually put his hands on East Carolina’s Bryson Worrell to stop him from admiring a huge home run. It was beyond bizarre to see. For one, an umpire should never put his hands on a player — just as a player can’t put his hands on an umpire. On top of that, it’s an umpires job to enforce actual rules — not baseball’s archaic unwritten rules.
Somehow, Costello wasn’t the only fun-hating umpire in the college baseball ranks because umpire Jeff Head almost did the same thing in Maryland’s game against UConn.
LEAD US OFF, LUKE!!!!!
An absolute BOMB starts this ballgame off! pic.twitter.com/ZkNptMbwgZ
— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) June 6, 2022
As Luke Shliger got the game started with a lead-off home run, Head could be seen running up the first-base line behind the batter to urge him to stop admiring the homer. An unbothered Shliger flipped his bat and made his way around the bases.
To make matters worse, this was the same umpire who made the controversial interference call that helped end Maryland’s season. It was that kind of night for Jeff Head, and baseball fans had seen enough.