Umps not off to a good start PR-wise

[chaderic20]

Only a week into spring training games and already umpires have had a couple bad-look stories.  First CB Buckner refused to shake the Cardinals manager's hand (he was apparently still bitter about an argument from last August), forcing MLB to step in and make them hug-it-out. Now today, in the Pirates/O's game, the umpires refused to work an extra half inning, when the Pirates, the home team, had already technically won the game, but the O's wanted to get one more reliever some in-game work, so asked the Pirates to still play the bottom of the ninth. The Pirates agreed, but the umps refused to work the extra half inning and walked off the field leaving the teams to call the bottom of the inning for themselves. Both of these instances made the umpires look very childish in my opinion.

[ziggy]

I don't think the umpires care about how they look. If they did Angel Hernandez would no longer be in the major leagues.

[ashbury]

I'm not going to defend Bucknor.

I'm more in sympathy with the umps not working the extra half-inning.  It's one of those things where if they see possible erosion of authority, it's best to not go along with even that first inch.  It's only a spring game, there's absolutely no harm in an amateur behind the catcher for activity that takes place only because both teams were agreeable, not because league rules mandated it.