Angel Hernandez, the controversial MLB umpire that has drawn criticism from fans, players, managers, and commentators alike, is retiring on Tuesday after three decades in Major League Baseball – per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
MLB and Hernandez had reportedly spent the past several weeks negotiating a financial settlement before coming to an agreement over the weekend. He hasn’t been in action for the last several weeks as the situation played itself out.
The 62-year-old Hernandez umpired what was to be his last game on May 9 as the home-plate umpire in the Chicago White Sox’s 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field. He was replaced on the crew by fellow MLB umpire Jacob Metz.
Over the last decade, he’s been a constant source of controversy. Hernandez filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against MLB in 2017, alleging that he was passed over for a crew chief position and World Series assignments because of his race.
Hernandez is Cuban-American. He last umpired a World Series game back in 2005 and a League Championship Series in 2016.
His lawsuit against MLB was dismissed in U.S. District Court in 2021, granting Major League Baseball a summary judgement. The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the decision last year.
“Hernandez has failed to establish a statistically significant disparity between the promotion rates of white and minority umpires,” the appeals court said in its 11-page decision. “MLB has provided persuasive expert evidence demonstrating that, during the years at issue, the difference in crew chief promotion rates between white and minority umpires was not statistically significant. Hernandez offers no explanation as to why MLB’s statistical evidence is unreliable.”
He claimed that then-MLB executive Joe Torre, who made key umpire decisions, held animosity towards him dating back to his time as the manager of the New York Yankees.
“Hernandez has failed to show that the criteria Torre used in making crew chief promotion decisions caused the existing disparity between white and minority crew chiefs,” the panel consisting of U.S. Circuit Judges Susan L. Carney and Steven J. Menash, wrote. “Hernandez has made no showing that Torre harbors a bias against racial minorities.”
MLB umpire Angel Hernandez had many critics
Hernandez was blasted online earlier this season after Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford struck out on three consecutive pitches that were outside of the strike zone.
He famously had three calls overturned at first base in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, with Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez bashing him on TV.
“Angel was horrible,” said Martinez. “Don’t get me going on 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 there is.”
Said Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia after the game: “I don’t understand why he’s doing these games. He’s always bad. He’s a bad umpire.”
Last month, Hernandez made a series of bizarre and poor calls in a game between the Yankees and Blue Jays that drew significant ire online. Even MLB insider Jon Heyman had seen enough after that game.
“This should be Angel Hernandez’s last game. Enough already.”
Now, Hernandez and MLB can both finally move on.
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