Houston Astros: AJ Hinch on receiving end of Angel Hernandez ump show

Typically, managers do not get ejected from Spring Training games. Then again, Angel Hernandez is not like most umpires, much to the displeasure of Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch.

Add Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch to the list of people that are not enamored with Angel Hernandez’ continued employment as an umpire.

In a battle that had been ongoing from the previous week, Hinch pointed out several calls that Hernandez had missed. After he missed a few more balls and strikes in the top of the inning, Hinch had a few suggestions for Hernandez, all of which added up to his being thrown out of the game following the first pitch in the bottom of the first. Actually, let’s have Hinch describe what happened in his own words:

All Hinch was trying to do was to help Hernandez become a better umpire. As he noted, there is that technology out there that can help Hernandez better identify balls and strikes, a key part of his job. To be fair, it is not as though Hernandez has exactly covered himself with glory in his time as an umpire; after all, who can forget his disastrous showing at first in the ALDS last year, when three of his calls were overturned upon review.

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Yes, Spring Training is a time for everyone to get back into the saddle when it comes to the game. That includes umpires as well, as they need to get ready for the regular season. It is natural that, over the course of Spring Training games, they will miss calls as they adjust to the speed of the game once again.

That is not the issue here. The issue is that Hernandez is consistently one of the worst umpires in the game, yet had the audacity to sue Major League Baseball for discrimination, claiming that he was passed over for promotions or a spot in the postseason due to his ethnicity. If only we could all claim discrimination when or incompetence keeps us from being promoted or hired for a position.

Hernandez’ performance has been bad enough where former Braves great Chipper Jones once called for a boycott of any games that the embattled umpire was a part of. Dallas Braden joked that the strike zone filed a countersuit against Hernandez for neglect over his career.

Sadly, there is a great deal of truth to those tweets. Hernandez is an Ump Show all his own, a combative being who truly believes that he is immune from criticism. His constant inability to make the correct call, and then to be confrontational about those instances, is enough to drive even the most even-keeled manager or player to anger. The game has a problem, and it is umpires such as Angel Hernandez and his ilk.

Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch found himself on the receiving end of an Angel Hernandez Ump Show in Spring Training. As Hinch said, chances are, this is not the end of their battles this season.