Cardinals’ Oliver Marmol says umpire C.B. Bucknor refused to shake hands: ‘Zero class’

A manager-umpire quarrel has already been reignited, and there haven’t even been three days of spring training games.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and umpire C.B. Bucknor — involved in a heated exchange in August 2022, which resulted in Marmol’s ejection — overlapped during St. Louis’ Grapefruit League game against Washington on Saturday, and Marmol told reporters that Bucknor didn’t shake his hand when he extended his hand during the pregame meeting at home plate.

Carlos Torres, Ron Kulpa and Angel Hernandez, the other three umpires in that crew, apologized for Bucknor’s reaction and shook Marmol’s hand, according to The Athletic.

“I went to go shake C.B.’s hand,” Marmol told reporters. “He didn’t extend his. I went into that game pretty certain about my thoughts on him as umpire. They weren’t very good. It just shows his lack of class as a man. That’s the bottom line.” 

Marmol added that he doesn’t think Bucknor is “good at his job, and it shows his lack of class as a man.” He included the phrase “zero class” in the interview with reporters, too.

The origin of their argument dates back to that Aug. 21, 2022 game, when Arizona pitcher Merrill Kelly threw a first-pitch strike to Nolan Arenado in the third inning. Once he heard Bucknor’s strike call, Arenado swung his head around with a surprised look. Marmol joined from the dugout a few moments later.

A heated, minute-long exchange transpired between Marmol and Bucknor, and another umpire in the crew walked over to separate the pair and escort Marmol back toward the Cardinals’ dugout. According to a Bally Sports video, Marmol said postgame that he didn’t appreciate the smirk Buckor gave him when he went to argue “and then he questioned my time in the league, so I returned the favor and questioned his time in the league.”

Marmol, a former Cardinals draft pick, progressed through the franchise’s various levels of coaching in its minor league system before reaching MLB in 2017, when he was promoted to St. Louis’ first-base coach. In 2021, he became the team’s manager — and the youngest manager in the MLB as a then-35-year-old — when the Cardinals fired Mike Shildt and promoted Marmol from his spot as bench coach.

He guided St. Louis to the playoffs during his first season, where they were swept by the Phillies in the wild-card round.