When fans know the name of an MLB umpire, there is clearly something wrong. If an umpire is doing his job correctly, he generally remains an anonymous entity behind the plate.
Unfortunately, a small handful of MLB umpires have crossed the line from anonymity to infamy.
None more so than Angel Hernandez, who tossed the Houston Astros beloved manager in the first inning of Friday’s Spring Training game against the Cardinals.
This isn’t the first time that Hernandez chose his ego over the integrity of the game. One of the more memorable times was during Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS between the Yankees and Red Sox. Despite the 16-1 routing of the Yankees, Hernandez proved that he has no business making calls in important games.
That night, he had three calls overturned while he was at first base. Because of these poor calls, the game is stopped and play is affected.
According to an article by Ronald Blum with the Chicago Tribune:
"Hernandez has had first-base calls overturned in 14 of 18 video reviews during the last three regular seasons, according to Sports Info Solutions, and his 78 percent overturn rate was above the 60 percent overall figure for first-base calls during that span, the company said."
This is unacceptable. And, Hernandez’s performance on Friday was, too.
During Friday’s game with Harrison Bader at the plate with a 1-2 count in the top of the first, Forrest Whitley threw a pitch that Hernandez called a ball. He did this as Bader began walking back to the dugout (even the batter knew it was a strike). Then, in the bottom of the first, Hernandez called the first pitch thrown to lead-off hitter George Springer was called a strike when it wasn’t.
Before the next pitch could be thrown, Hinch started chirping from the dugout. Hernandez ejected him. That’s when Hinch emerged from the dugout and headed for Hernandez. The usually calm and cool Hinch was far from it as he was restrained by Springer and another coach.
In an interview later that day, Hinch explained what happened. He also said that Hernandez has told him that he usually missed four pitches per game (he had already missed two on Friday before the first inning was over).
🎥👀AJ Hinch has some things to say about the incident with Angel Hernandez that got him ejected from the game today: pic.twitter.com/1JAyJojkvI
— Alyson Footer (@alysonfooter) March 16, 2019
As the MLB looks for ways to improve the game, it should look at the umpires calling these games. Angel Hernandez isn’t the only umpire who changes the course of games. Mike Everett, Jim Joyce and Joe West have had some terrible calls and unnecessarily excessive ejections.
Hernandez is by-far one of the worst. With his consistently bad calls, he practically takes the bat out of the hands of the batters. MLB players know their strike zones, so when Hernandez makes his terrible calls, they simply don’t know when to swing. Since balls and strikes cannot be reviewed, consistently bad calls can wrongly affect the game.
Former Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler had quite an experience with Hernandez in August 2017. A stream of his at-bats accompanied by Hernandez’s terrible calls can be seen here. While you’re watching, turn up the volume to hear the announcers and their opinions of Hernandez.
During Kinsler’s at-bats, the Tigers announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen discuss how bad the calls are and how easily triggered Hernandez is in nearly every game. It’s easy to see how calm Brad Ausmus is when he chats with Hernandez about the calls, yet Hernandez doesn’t waste any time ejecting him.
Fans want to see their favorite players play. They don’t want to see umpires take over the games. Something needs to be done with Angel Hernandez. He needs to be let go or not allowed to call games from behind home plate.