I want to be really clear about what this post isn’t. This isn’t an argument that the Cubs would have won Thursday’s game if the umpires had called it differently. The Cubs had a lot of opportunities to score that they didn’t capitalize on, Jon Lester got hit hard early and the defense wasn’t exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Cubs. In fact, like in most games, while the strike zone was an issue it was just one, in a sea of many, many other issues. Incidentally, that’s basically the reason that all baseball fans are taught early and often not to blame the umpires.
Umpires had an outsized impact on the Cubs series with the Phillies
