Ump Show: Egregious missed call in Cubs-Rangers highlights MLB's replay problem

MLB umpires were in midseason form on Opening Day as the Chicago Cubs battled the Texas Rangers. And not in a good way.

Umps miss calls that have to potential to impact outcomes with regularity throughout the season. It just would have been nice if they had waited a day or two into the new season to remind us of that.

The Cubs scored a go-ahead run in bizarre fashion in the top of the ninth inning specifically because the umps mistook a foul tip for a wild pitch. And because MLB is MLB, it wasn't a reviewable play.

All credit to Michael Busch, who recognized the opportunity and went for it, securing a critical run for his team in a tie ball game. It's not his job to determine whether a pitch was wild or fouled off. It's the umps' job. And they flat-out blew it.

The good news is it didn't end the game. Though it certainly altered it.

The score was 3-2 when Travis Jankowski came in as a pinch hitter for the Rangers in the bottom of the ninth. He saved the day with a 396-foot home run to tie it back up and force extra innings. If it had remained 2-2, that would have been a walk-off.

Of course, we also don't know what would have happened in what remained of the top of the ninth if Busch and Nico Hoerner had remained on second and first respectively. And we don't know if Bruce Bochy would have turned to Jankowski in that spot if the game had been tied.

In the end, it didn't matter. Catcher Jonah Heim, who didn't corral the ball on the earlier foul tip, fittingly hit a walk-off into center field to win the game for the Rangers.

It's not really about litigating which team "deserved" to win. It's about getting calls right, especially ones that can be so easily confirmed on video.

Baseball is back and so is the very imperfect influence of the umps.