Ángel Hernández (umpire)

Incidents and notable games

In 1998, Hernandez was behind the plate for a game between the Mets and the Braves, the day before the All-Star break was to begin. In the 11th inning Braves runner Michael Tucker tagged up on a fly ball to left. Replays showed the throw to catcher Mike Piazza clearly beating Tucker and that Tucker never touched the plate but Hernandez ruled Tucker safe. After the game Piazza called the call the worst he'd ever seen in his baseball career and other Mets opined that Hernandez may have been in a hurry to get the game over with so they could all start their break.^[9]

In 2001, Hernández was blamed for ejecting Steve McMichael, a former Chicago Bears player, who had taken a shot at Hernández's umpiring over the PA system after being introduced as the guest singer for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".^[10] It was later revealed that crew chief Randy Marsh had ordered the ejection.^[1]

Hernández in 2007

On July 17, 2006, Hernández was the third base umpire and ejected Dodgers' first base coach Mariano Duncan. When Duncan came out of the dugout to argue the ejection, he tossed his cap onto the ground in anger. After Duncan was removed from the field, Hernández picked up the cap and tossed it to a fan in the stands. The next day, Duncan taped his cap to his head before delivering the Dodgers' lineup to the umpires.^[11] Duncan was suspended for two games and fined by Major League Baseball as a result of the incident.^[12]

Hernández was behind the plate for the final game at the old Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. He was umpiring at third base when Jered Weaver threw a no-hitter on May 2, 2012,^[13] and Hernández was the third base umpire on September 28, 2012, when Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[14]

Hernández in 2011

In 2013, Hernández served as the crew chief for a series when the Oakland Athletics lost to the Cleveland Indians 4–3. In the ninth inning he and two other umpires ruled a long hit by Athletic's Adam Rosales as a double following a video review.^[15][1] Oakland's manager Bob Melvin argued the call, and Hernández ejected him from the game.^[16] MLB later acknowledged that the hit should have been called a home run but said that it was too late to overturn it.^[17][18] Several umpires argued that the replay system did not provide clear enough pictures and the system was later changed.^[1]

In August 2017, Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined $10,000 by MLB, for critical comments he made about Hernández; Kinsler had said that Hernández was a bad umpire and "needs to find another job".^[19]

During the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons, Hernández's calls at first base were overturned in 14 out of 18 video reviews, for a 78 percent overturn rate, exceeding the 60 percent overturn rate for all first-base calls during that time period.^[20]

On October 8, 2018, Hernández was the first base umpire for Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the Yankees and Red Sox. Three out of four plays that he called which were submitted for video review were overturned.^[20] TBS analyst and Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez had the following to say after the game, "Angel was horrible. Don’t get me going on Angel now. Major League Baseball needs to do something about Angel. It doesn't matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball. He’s as bad as there is."^[21] Hernández declined to comment after the game, a blowout win for the Red Sox, but MLB issued a statement through a spokesperson: "There were several very close calls at first base tonight, and we are glad that instant replay allowed the umpiring crew to achieve the proper result on all of them".^[20]

Lawsuit

In July 2017, Hernández filed a federal lawsuit against MLB, alleging racial discrimination led to him being overlooked for World Series games and crew chief promotions.^[1] He also cited a long-standing feud with Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, dating back to Torre's managerial career. ^[22] saying that prior to Torre's arrival in 2011, Hernández's evaluations were consistently positive, but since then evaluations have turned neutral or negative.^[23] Nearly a week after he filed the suit, Hernández was named to the 2017 All-Star Game;^[24] he was also selected as first base umpire for the 2017 and 2018 American League Division Series.^[25][20] In September 2018, the case was moved from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, where Major League Baseball is headquartered.^[20][26]