Major League Baseball umpires have a huge responsibility to get every call correct during the World Series. And with the advancement of replays and challenges in MLB, umpires are under more fire than ever when they make a bad call.
For home plate umpire Pat Hoberg, he was able to stay on an even keel and call a “perfect game” in Game 2 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros on Saturday. According to the Umpire Scorecards account on Twitter, Hoberg called each of the game’s 129 pitches correctly in the Astros’ 5-2 win.
Not bad for Hoberg, 36, who was calling his first World Series game in his career after serving as a reserve umpire in Game 1 of the World Series.
Earlier in the 2022 season, Hoberg was one missed call away from calling a “perfect game” when he went 122-for-123 in a game between the Phillies and Colorado Rockies. His only blemish was a strike that he had called a ball.
“Getting the call is one thing,” Hoberg told the Des Moines Register prior to the World Series getting underway. “I have to go out and perform now and do it to the best of my ability and hopefully that happens and we get through the whole series.”
Hoberg had previously umpired 371 MLB games as a call-up umpire before being promoted to a full-time MLB staff umpire in 2017.
The Astros used three consecutive doubles to jump all over Phillies stater Zack Wheeler to start off Game 2. Houston eventually leapt out to a 5-0 lead and were able to hang onto it this time around for a 5-2 victory in Game 2. The series resumes on Monday night in Philadelphia for Game 3.
