Umpire Laz Diaz. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Umpire Laz Diaz gets booed over his stunt during spring training

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Feb 26, 2026 11:02 AM ET

Laz Diaz still is not doing his PR any favors.

The veteran MLB umpire was working first base for Wednesday’s spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. During the fifth inning, Diaz tracked down a foul ball off the bat of Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra that had landed in his area.

Diaz pretended like he was going to throw the ball into the crowd to give a souvenir for the fan…but instead just pocketed the foul ball. As a result, Diaz was booed heavily by the fans that he had just faked out.

The boos got so loud at one point that Diaz dramatically put his hands over his ears. Here is the video.

Umpire Laz Diaz pumpfaked a throw into the crowd and fans booed him so he covered his ears pic.twitter.com/BLmswSupLC
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) February 26, 2026

Diaz, 62, is one of MLB’s longest-tenured umpires and has been working games since 1995 (including as a full-time umpire in both leagues since 2000). But needless to say, Diaz is not exactly Mr. Popular in the baseball world.

Among other points of notoriety, Diaz is known for having one of the worst strike zones in the game. In Diaz’s defense though, perhaps he was indeed better off keeping the foul ball considering that a fan once threw one at him during a 2024 game.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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