"Especially if an umpire just accepts that, well, what am I going to say?" - Umpire apologizes to New York Mets pitcher after missing strike call

In a rare showing of mutual respect between an umpire and a player, New York Mets star pitcher Chris Bassitt and umpire Chad Fairchild both felt as though they had made a mistake, and both apologized. Chris Bassit believed that he had thrown the final strike of the inning and began to walk off the field before waiting for the call, and was shocked when the pitch was called a ball.

SNY network posted a clip of the play and interaction to their Twitter account, seen below.

"In between innings, Chad Fairchild owned up to Chris Bassitt for missing a strike call on Dansby Swanson" - @ SNY

This is a level of professionalism and honesty that is rarely seen from officials, as many would refuse to admit their mistake. Thankfully for the New York Mets and the umpire, Chris Bassitt was able to get out of the inning shortly after.

The pitch was clearly a strike, but Chris Bassitt also considered his leaving the mound early disrespectful, which is something he owned up to as well.

New York Mets have earned respect from eveybody, even umpires!

The NL East leaders are taking the league by storm.

Chris Bassitt has been an outspoken critic of the MLB, discussing the changing of the baseballs themselves and what effect they have on the game, so it is good to see that the hard earned respect is still held by umpire Chad Fairchild.

The New York Mets have been one of the top teams in baseball, currently leading the National League East by three games over the upstart Miami Marlins. Nobody expected this good of a start from the New York team, especially with one of the best pitchers in the league, Jacob deGrom, out due to injury.

Fox Sports contextualized just how good the team has been with a graphic posted to Twitter.

"The @Mets & @BlueJays are the only teams who have not lost a series in 2022" - @ FOX Sports: MLB

The show of respect and admission of an error from umpire Chad Fairchild would hopefully have come regardless of the player on the mound or the team he played for. It's impossible to remain completely subjective when officiating a game, but minimizing bias and showing respect for both teams is the hallmark of a truly great umpire.

The New York Mets pitcher knew he threw a strike, the umpire realized later that Chris Bassitt clearly threw a strike, and through a simple admission of guilt, the game carried on without further delay, the way it should be.