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Angel Hernandez, the polarizing veteran umpire who has angered players, managers and fans alike for three decades, will retire from Major League Baseball, a senior baseball official told USA TODAY Sports.
MLB and Hernandez spent the past two weeks negotiating a financial settlement before reaching a resolution over the weekend.
The longtime referee confirmed his retirement in a statement to USA TODAY Sports on Monday evening:
“Beginning with my first major league game in 1991, I have had a very good experience fulfilling my childhood dream of umpiring in the major leagues. I have appreciated the camaraderie among my teammates and the friendships I have made along the way.”
“I decided I wanted to spend more time with my family.”
Hernandez, 62, played his final game May 9 as an umpire in the Chicago White Sox’s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Grant Rate Field and never returned, replaced by Jacob Metz on the staff.
Hernandez, baseball’s most controversial umpire, filed a race discrimination lawsuit in 2017 against MLB, alleging he was passed over for crew chief and World Series duties because of his race. He last umpired a World Series game in 2005 and a League Championship Series in 2016.
The suit was dismissed in U.S. District Court in 2021, and MLB was granted summary judgment. 2Second abbreviation The US Court of Appeals upheld the decision last year.
“Hernandez failed to identify a statistically significant disparity between the promotion rates of white and minority governors,” the appeals court said in its 11-page decision. “MLB presented convincing expert evidence demonstrating that during the years in question, the difference in crew chief promotion rates between white and minority umpires was not statistically significant. Hernandez offers no explanation for why MLB’s statistical evidence is unreliable.
Hernandez, a Cuban-American, began umpiring professionally at age 20 in the Florida State League.
“There have been many positive changes in baseball since I first entered the profession,” Hernandez said in his statement Monday. “This includes expanding and promoting minorities. I am proud that I was able to be an active participant in this goal while I was a major league umpire.”
He was promoted to full-time MLB umpire in 1993, and in recent years has been considered by player and managers to be the worst umpire in the game.
He was criticized on social media earlier on April 12 of this season when Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford He hit on three consecutive pitches Which was outside the strike zone. He missed seven other pitchers that were at least three inches outside the strike zone.
Hernandez played only 10 games last season due to a back injury, but he missed 161 calls. According to the auditor.
Three calls were overturned at first base in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, as Hall of Fame player Pedro Martinez criticized it on TBS.
“Angel was terrible. Don’t make me talk about 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 it gets,” he said. “.
“I don’t understand why he makes those plays. He’s always bad. He’s a bad umpire,” Yankees outfielder CC Sabathia said after the game.
Hernandez has never been considered MLB’s worst umpire, according to MLB statistical studies and reports, but in the court of public opinion, there has never been anyone who has missed more calls as a home plate umpire.
Now, he’s out of the game, escaping the taunts and ridicule that have accompanied him for so long.
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