Pat Hoberg quietly made history by calling a perfect game behind the plate during the World Series, and the breakdown shows just how sharp his performance was. According to UmpScorecards.com, Hoberg didn’t miss a single ball or strike call. He held a consistent zone all night and adjusted with each batter’s stance while staying locked in with the catcher’s positioning. His method involves lining up directly behind the catcher’s head and mirroring late movements to track the intended pitch lane. It looked more like a coordinated dance than guesswork, especially when compared to footage of other umpires like Greg Gibson and CB Buckner, whose setups led to inconsistent calls.
Analysis of the game highlighted just how few borderline pitches umpires truly have to decide on. Most pitches are either swung at or clearly out of the zone. Hoberg had 44 pitches in the so-called shadow zone, and he nailed them all with impressive consistency inside, outside, high, and low. The video breaks down overlapping pitch locations showing Hoberg’s calls matched the zone he established from the start. Even when calls were questioned, replays showed they aligned with how he’d been calling that area all game. In contrast, other umps miss these borderline calls by not adjusting their stance or reading the catcher’s target. Hoberg’s attention to small details and focus under pressure is rare in umpiring, and the big question remains why MLB doesn’t assign him to more plate duties in the postseason instead of rotating him away from it. Umpiring at this level doesn’t require robots—it requires consistency and effort. Hoberg delivered both.