MLB Umpire Doug Eddings Sparks Outrage With Controversial Cubs-Tigers Calls

The Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers, two of Major League Baseball's top teams in 2025, faced off in a tense game at Comerica Park marked by controversial umpiring. Umpire Doug Eddings made several questionable strike calls, including calling strikes on pitches clearly outside the zone, which led to the ejections of Cubs player Nico Hoerner and manager Craig Counsell. Fans, players, and analysts widely criticized Eddings' performance, with Hall of Famer Chipper Jones labeling him one of the worst and most confrontational umpires in the league. The Cubs, holding the second-best team batting average and fifth in home runs, and the Tigers, leading in bullpen victories, both felt the impact of the calls in a game with high playoff stakes. The controversy has reignited calls for the implementation of automated strike zone technology, or 'robo-umps,' to improve call accuracy, referencing positive feedback from MLB's spring training tests of Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) systems. The game and umpiring decisions quickly became a major talking point across social media and sports media outlets.