On Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper was ejected after a missed swing call by Angel Hernandez. Harper blew up on Hernandez and was immediately ejected by the long-time umpire.
Bryce Harper, Angel Hernandez and pandemonium at the Philadelphia Phillies game
A lot of media and fans around the MLB know all about Angel Hernandez. In fact, many are calling for the “ROBO UMPS” because of his calls. We have some egregious calls over his career as an MLB umpire and Thursday night’s call on Bryce Harper was up there.
In case you missed it…
Bryce Harper just got ejected by Angel Hernandez after Angel made a bad call when Bryce checked his swing. Bryce went off on him. And then chucked his helmet into the crowd. A kid is now wearing his helmet!
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 28, 2023
pic.twitter.com/Acy0LLvI9K
The disbelief in both Ruben Amaro and Tom McCarthy’s voice says all you need to know as the hometown commentors watched the slow motion replay of Harper’s swing. In fact, Amaro had this to say during the broadcast.
"“You know, I have history with Angel. He is the only umpire who ever rung me up on a ball that hit the dirt.”"
In fact, Hernadez has such a history, all you need to do is type his name in on X or YouTube and you’ll find all the information you need. It is no secret about how Hernandez misses calls and, at some point, MLB may need to step in and make things right.
However, not all fans were angry about this call. As Harper left the field, he threw his helmet into the crowd that was giving him a standing ovation. One lucky kid came up with the helmet after having to hold on for his dear life in a swarm of people.
Hayden and Aaron Dorfman of Voorhees, N.J., are the lucky recipients of Harper’s helmet. Taryn Hatcher caught up with the father/son duo in the top of the sixth while Hayden was wearing the helmet. Here is what Hayden had to say.
"“I saw him throw it and I knew I wanted to get it, so I just stood still. There were 3 or 4 dads just diving in. IT WAS PURE CHAOS. I did not want to go in there. I stood on the outside and one of the dad’s yelled give it to the kids and that worked.”"
While Hayden may not be wearing it to school tomorrow, you know he will have a souvenir for a lifetime.