JUPITER, Fla. — Whatever chance his irritation with umpire C. B. Bucknor had of cooling over the winter ended before Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol returned to the dugout for the first game of spring training.
In the first meeting since a biting exchange last August in Arizona, Marmol approached home plate to meet with the umpires before Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener at Roger Dean Stadium. From the press box, it was possible to see Marmol extend his hand toward Bucknor for a handshake. Marmol said Bucknor refused the offer, and the Post-Dispatch confirmed that Bucknor did indeed decline to move his hand.
“He didn’t extend his. He didn’t,” Marmol said when asked by the Post-Dispatch about the exchange with the umpire. “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. That’s bottom line.
