When you were a kid, did you dream of being a major league ball player? If so, you have plenty of company. Many a child has had aspirations of turning pro. Did you ever dream of being an umpire? I certainly didn't. But the kid who does took center stage during Sunday Night Baseball between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.
If you haven't already seen the 13-year-old kid named Bradley cosplaying as an umpire, then you simply haven't been watching the Cubs vs. Cardinals series this weekend. Here he is during Saturday's game:
The 13-year-old aspiring umpire, Bradley, is doing a great job out there tonight at Cubs-Cardinals! π pic.twitter.com/e4hKwICSbb
β FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 10, 2025
Listen, I don't make a habit of yucking other people's yums, especially kids. If the child wants to be an umpire, more power to him. At the same time, if a kid came to the ballpark in a complete Cardinals uniform and stood in the middle of the aisle taking ghost at-bats...well it'd get old pretty fast.
Kid ump at one game? Aw, that's cute. Kid ump at two games? Ok, you've had your fun. A third game? Bud, we get it. Fans on social media had similar thoughts.
MLB fans on social media are over the kid umpire
This again. Show the game! Itβs getting ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/H9Cig0l7jL
β David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 11, 2025
MLB fans with rivalries coming together to hate the umpire kid pic.twitter.com/AHec096xwa
β kyle loshes uncle (@petekozmafan) August 10, 2025
The kid ump gimmick was funny the first time. But for a full game, or 2, and now 3 games is annoying. Sit down, watch the game and stop bothering the people around you.
β γ½οΈπΊπΈ (@DetHailMich) August 11, 2025
Iβve had just about enough of the kid ump. We get it
β Johnny (@JohnnyGiunta_) August 11, 2025
The Cubs and Cards are underway! And if the kid umpire is on TV tonight, Iβll turn off the TV and listen to Pat Hughes. Two days of anyone in the stands is already one too many.
β Joel V π³βΎοΈπ (@JoelDVan68) August 11, 2025
That's not to say everyone hated the gimmick. Here's at least one levelheaded take:
My official position on Umpire Kid is that it's fine, and neither needs over-the-top fawning nor over-the-top rage.
β Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) August 10, 2025
I'm all for a bit of whimsy here and there. We all take sports too seriously and should take every opportunity to be reminded that it ain't that deep. Truthfully, this isn't worth getting worked up over. Having said that, can we talk for a second about the umpire of it all?
This is the worst time to dream about becoming an umpire
Umps are...the worst. Sure, there are a couple of good ones, but by and large they're massive egos in masks who can't get out of their own way. They have an impossibly tough job. Too many of them do it poorly. Even more insist on inserting themselves into the game far too often. How did this kid end up imprinting on the most unlikeable figure in any given ballpark?
You've gotta feel bad for ump kid on some level, though. He's 13 and dreams of being an umpire when the ABS system is right around the corner and full-blown robot umps are on the horizon...well, he'll at least have something in common with the majority of those kids who dreamed of being major leaguers.