Bruce Froemming, Worst Umpire Who Ever Lived, 1939-2026

The worst umpire in baseball history has died.

And if you're thinking Joe West or Ángel Hernández, I can tell you, not only are those two schmucks still alive, but there was one who was even worse.

Bruce Neal Froemming was born on September 28, 1939 in Milwaukee. The Braves moving to Atlanta in 1965 was the worst thing that has ever happened to baseball in Milwaukee, but Froemming being born in Milwaukee was the worst thing there that ever happened to baseball.

After a brief semi-pro playing career, Froemming became the youngest umpire in professional baseball in 1958 at age 18, working his way up through the minor leagues to the Pacific Coast League, before joining the National League staff in April 1971.

On September 2, 1972, Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres, winning, 8-0. It should have been a perfect game. He had a 3-and-2 count on the last batter, pinch-hitter Larry Stahl. Then he threw what should have been called strike 3 on the outside corner. But Froemming, in his 2nd season, called ball 4, and ruined it.

Pappas freaked out, and yelled at Froemming, including a few Greek profanities. He got the next batter, Garry Jestadt, to keep the no-hitter, but it could have been so much more. After the game, he tried to be rational, approaching Froemming and saying, "Do you know how few umpires have called a perfect game? You could have been one of them."

Froemming said, "Milt, if I had called that last pitch a strike, I never would've been able to live with myself." Pappas lost it again, and said, "How the hell do you live with yourself with all the other lousy calls you make?" So, already, Froemming had a reputation of not being a good umpire.

The next day, at Wrigley Field, Froemming says he was "besieged" by the media. Years later, he justified his call, saying, "I'm an umpire, not a fan. I called what I saw."

Froemming never called a perfect game, but he was the 1st base umpire for Dennis Martínez's perfect game for the Montreal Expos against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28, 1991; and he did call more no-hitters than any umpire in MLB history: 11.

On October 7, 1977, Game 3 of the National League Championship Series was played at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies led the Dodgers, 5-3 in the top of the 9th inning. They were 1 more out from winning, and needed just 1 more win for their 1st Pennant in 27 years, since the 1950 Whiz Kids.

The Dodgers benefited from what Philadelphia fans would consider a sickening turn of events. Pinch hitter Vic Davalillo, a 41-year-old Venezuelan outfielder who has already retired from baseball once, showed enough guts to lay down a drag bunt, at his age, with 2 strikes, and he beat it out. Another pinch-hitter, 39-year-old Dominican Manny Mota, hit a long drive to left field.

Ordinarily, Phils manager Danny Ozark would have sent Jerry Martin out to left for defensive purposes, in place of the powerful but defensively suspect Greg Luzinski. This time, he didn't, and the Bull could only trap the ball against the fence. (In fairness, I’ve seen the play several times, and I don’t think Martin would have caught it, either, especially since he was a bit shorter than the Bull.) Luzinski threw back to the infield, but Phils 2nd baseman Ted Sizemore mishandled it, Mota went to 3rd, and Davalillo scored. It was 5-4 Phils, with 2 out.

Then came one of the most brutal umpiring screwups ever. Remember, the Dodgers were still down to their last out. Davey Lopes' grounder hit a seam in the artificial turf, and caromed off Mike Schmidt's knee to Larry Bowa‚ and Froemming incorrectly ruled the shortstop's throw late. Instead of the game being over in Philly's favor, Mota scored the tying run. The Dodgers went on to win, 6-5, and won the Pennant the next day.

In Philadelphia, the game is known as Black Friday. Froemming's name is still mud there.

Froemming worked in the All-Star Games of 1975, 1986 and 2007, behind home plate for the last 2; behind home plate for the NL Wild-Card play-in games of 1998 and 1999; a record 9 Division Series; 10 League Championship Series, formerly a record; and 5 World Series: 1976, 1984, 1988, 1990 and 1995.

In Game 4 in 1976, he ejected Yankee manager Billy Martin, who was miked-up for the official World Series highlight film, and was caught repeatedly saying, "Don't you be intimidating me!" On July 24, 2004, Froemming was the home plate umpire who let Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo get away with hitting Yankee Alex Rodriguez on purpose, and then, when A-Rod dared to curse Arroyo out, Sox catcher Jason Varitek get away with smashing his mitt into A-Rod's face. Froemming threw Varitek and A-Rod out, but let Arroyo continue, when he should have thrown both Sox players out and let A-Rod continue.

In 1986, he appeared in a commercial for McDonald's new burger, the McDLT. The burger flopped, not because of Froemming's endorsement, but because the environmental movement forced McDonald's to stop using styrofoam containers, and there was no other way to "keep the hot side hot, and the cool side cool."

Froemming was named as 1 of the NL's 6 crew chiefs in 1988, and remained a crew chief when the Leagues' umpiring crews were combined in 2000. In 2001, when Miller Park (now American Family Field) opened in his hometown of Milwaukee, he was the home plate umpire. He umpired in 5,163 regular-season games, 2nd all-time at the time he retired after the 2007 season; and a record 111 postseason games.

Unfortunately, his last series was the 2007 American League Division Series between the Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, for which he was the crew chief. This included Game 2, when a swarm of midges came in from Lake Erie, rendering conditions unplayable, but he ordered that play continue, costing the Yankees the lead and the game. He should have stopped the game, as if it was raining, or (as has happened in Cleveland) there was snow, or fog. But he couldn't resist screwing one more team over.

Bruce Froemming married Rosemarie Loch in 1957, and they had two sons, Steven and Kevin. He had 2 grandchildren.

He died this past Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at the age of 86, at a hospital in Milwaukee. He had fallen in his home in suburban Mequon, Wisconsin the previous day, and doctors determined that he had a brain bleed that they were unable to stop, because he was taking blood thinners.

In the end, he died due to his thin blood. But his thin skin made him a terrible umpire.