Bill Hohn: Worst MLB umpire or merely the most glaring?

[Southside]

While it's impossible to know for sure how he ranks with the league, the fact that Hohn has only worked one post-season series since the shake-up of the staff in 1999 (2005 Division Series), suggests that he's not exactly impressing the powers that be. For someone with 20 years of service, three total postseasons (all Division Series) is pretty low. The only umpires with fewer postseason assignments were called up in 1999 or later, and most guys with Hohn's experience have around 7-8 playoff years. The fact that MLB has kept him out of the postseason in 17 of the 20 years he has umpired, including 9 of the 10 years since merit was supposedly given more weight in playoff assignments seems to suggest that he must be pretty close to the bottom of the league.

With most MLB guys, I'm honestly pretty surprised when they mess up. Every time I've seen Hohn work (admittedly not a lot of games), it seems like an adventure. Hohn and Paul Nauert (who's never been assigned a postseason game, besides the #6 spot on a division series crew in 8+ years [i.e. never been in a position where he could possible be behind the plate in a playoff game]), seem to be the two guys I've seen really struggle behind the plate, compared to most MLB guys. Obviously everyone misses a borderline pitch here or there, but I've seen Hohn and Nauert miss several not-borderline pitches over the years, which is not something you see very often from most of the guys who make it to that level. (I only mentioned balls/strikes, since that's generally what separates the "outstanding" from the "Major League-caliber" umpire.)

With so few spots opening up these days, and the logjam of AAA guys with lots of MLB games, it will be interesting to see if umpires like Hohn and Nauert who seem to struggle a bit more than most MLB umpires will be encouraged to "retire."