End of an Error: Angel Hernandez’s Ass Should Have Been Fired
After 31 years as a Major League Baseball umpire, Angel Hernandez finally did something good for the sport and announced his retirement on May 27th, according to MLB.
Nothing bothers me more as a sport official than a bad referee or umpire who cares nothing about the game and only about themselves. That defines Angel Hernandez who thankfully announced he is quitting Major League Baseball as an umpire. His resignation comes a decade too late at the least, but thankfully for players, managers and fans, it comes at the best time; the present.
Hernandez was a joke of an umpire and a narcissist as a person. He was the kind of umpire that makes it hard for us who officiate youth sports to do our jobs. People come to youth games yelling at us a lot of times based off of what they see on the professional level. Angel Hernandez and convicted felon former NBA referee Timothy Donaghy, put a stain on our industry that not even Tide with bleach can get out. Hernandez no longer being a part of MLB games is a step in the right direction, but MLB and the Major Leage Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA) are also to blame for allowing this clown to affect the outcome of games as long as he did.
In my previous job as an associate editor at Referee Magazine, it was frowned upon to talk about a fellow official in a disparaging way, no matter how bad things were. There were some exceptions like when officials were arrested or convicted of serious crimes. But in general, their job performance was not part of our coverage. It reminded me of the “blue wall of silence” American law enforcement engages in and it was something I never was comfortable with when working at Referee. I have seen first-hand growing up in Chicago what “no snitching” policies do to an organization and/or community.
Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy was convicted of two federal crimes. He was betting on games in which he was officiating. His actions left a stain on the officiating community that will never be erased.
I take my officiating seriously and I’m not nearly officiating on a level that Hernandez was. If I were as bad as he is at officiating, I would have been quit. He was well past his usefulness as an umpire and should have been put out to pasture by the guardians of the game. However, because the union is so strong, Hernandez and others, like recently retired Joe West are allowed to stick around and ruin the game experience. You can add Lance Diaz to that list as well as I’m sure fans will now focus on his inordinate number of bad calls. MLB umpires apparently think they are Supreme Court justices with lifelong appointments. While I’m personally against robot umpires, one can safely assume there are qualified people in the minor leagues just waiting for their opportunity to get to the big time and people like Diaz, West and Hernandez are preventing that from happening.
The problem lies in the MLB model for umpires to advance and the lack of consequences to root out bad umpires. Men have spent years as “up and downers,” meaning they are not full-fledged MLB umpires with full benefits but get to work MLB games. Some may work 100 MLB games in a season, but still are not full-time umps. THAT’S THE STORY HERE!
Angel Hernandez is just a microcosm of a bigger problem that MLB refuses to solve. There should be a minimum and maximum amount of games MLB umpires are required to work during the season and based off of the grading system (which none of us know exactly what the hell it is), those within that pool should be considered for playoff assignments. However, I would take it even further. Up and downers who work a certain number of games should also be eligible for the playoffs. Competition brings out the best in all of us. MLB umpires have no competition, which is why you get the arrogance and half-ass performances that is on display nightly in an MLB stadium near you. the MLBUA operates more like a street gang than a union or a country club with exclusive membership. In 2024 we should be past allowing organizations to operate like this and MLB could put a stop to this during the next bargaining session as MLB umpires contracts end this year. Could this be why Angel decided to step away? He would have been a liability in contract negotiations in my opinion as I would have made him the poster-child for change if I was MLB.
Angel Hernandez unsuccessfully sued MLB in 2017 saying he was not being promoted to crew chief or getting post season assignments because of his race. It was just another reason I disliked Hernandez, because racism exists. It is a serious imbrue on society. It wasn’t the reason Hernandez was not promoted. He wasn’t promoted because he sucked and we all saw it. Even MLB got that call right.