The most famous Major League umpire in the history of baseball, Angel Hernandez, has announced his retirement. After 33 years of controversial calls, Hernandez has decided to hang it up and many fans of baseball are simply surprised he has made it this long in the league, wondering why he hasn't been fired at any point in time during the last three decades.
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Angel Hernandez is retiring from Baseball. Thankful for all the memories he gave us @StoolBaseball pic.twitter.com/iEVe4JTpCj
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 28, 2024
Certainly Hernandez has been a punching bag on social media throughout his tenure as an umpire, as you can find countless highlights (or rather lowlights) of missed balls/strikes.
F it, Angel Hernandez highlights.pic.twitter.com/lCeiw0IC43
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 28, 2024
Correspondingly, about every player in the league has either argued or had some type of disagreement with Hernandez, while some have even asked the league to remove him as an umpire.
As was the case with New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia after a Game 4 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the AL Division Series.
"He's absolutely terrible," Sabathia said in the postgame interviews. "He was terrible behind the plate today. He was terrible at first base. It's amazing how he's getting jobs umpiring in these playoff games."
Sabathia among other players clearly had Hernandez at the top of their 'least favorite' ump list.
"He's always bad," Sabathia said. "He's a bad umpire."
That time CC was brutally honest about Angel Hernandez 💀 pic.twitter.com/QoWkP8FyeM
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 28, 2024
Whenever an umpire is well-known by players and fans alike, it usually is not for doing a good job.
Hernandez missed most all of last season, due to a back injury, and his last game umpiring this season came on May 9, when the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-2.
In 2017, Hernandez also made headlines when he filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the MLB, in which he made the case that throughout his career, he unfairly has been denied promotion to both crew chief and postseason assignments. Maybe he didn't realize that promotions are usually given to workers who are excelling at their current job.
The notoriety surrounding the career of the Cuban-born umpire certainly will never be forgotten. And the rancor received from those who have watched the countless missed calls will live on forever. That is to say, even if they won't admit it, fans will miss Angel Hernandez, or at least miss making fun of him.
Angel Hernandez was probably the worst umpire of all time. But without him, we wouldn’t have this hilarious moment, and for that I will be forever grateful.
pic.twitter.com/SwwA8Dn8zo— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) May 28, 2024
