Angel Hernandez, the polarizing veteran umpire who has drawn the ire and exasperation of players, managers and fans for three decades, will retire from Major League Baseball on Tuesday, a top baseball official told Keynote USA Sports.
The official spoke to Keynote USA Sports on condition of anonymity as he was not granted permission to speak publicly before MLB makes the announcement official Tuesday.
MLB and Hernandez had spent the past two weeks negotiating a financial agreement before reaching a resolution over the weekend.
Hernandez, 62, worked his last game on May 9 as a home plate umpire in the Chicago White Sox‘s 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field and never returned, replaced on the team by Jacob Metz.
Hernandez, baseball’s most controversial umpire, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in 2017 against MLB, alleging he was passed over for a crew chief position and World Series assignments because of his race. The last time he officiated a World Series game was in 2005 and a League Championship Series in 2016.
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The lawsuit was dismissed in U.S. District Court in 2021, granting MLB summary judgment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the decision last year.
“Hernández has failed to establish a statistically significant disparity between the promotion rates of white and minority referees,” the appeals court said in its 11-page decision. “MLB has provided persuasive 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. “Hernández offers no explanation for why MLB’s statistical evidence is unreliable.”
Hernandez, a Cuban-American, began refereeing professionally at age 20 in the Florida State League. He was promoted to full-time MLB umpire in 1993, and in recent years he was considered by players and managers to be the worst umpire in the game.
He came under fire on social media on April 12 of this season when Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford struck out on three consecutive pitches that were outside the strike zone. He missed seven other pitchers who were at least three inches outside the strike zone, according to the Umpire Auditor.
Hernandez worked only 10 games last season due to a back injury, but missed 161 calls, according to the Referee Auditor.
He had three overturned calls at first base in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martínez lashed out at him on TBS .
“Angel was horrible,” he said. “Don’t make me go on with Angel now. Major League Baseball needs to do something with Angel. No matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball, he’s as bad as they come. “.
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said after the game: “I don’t understand why he’s doing these games. He’s always bad. He’s a bad referee.”
Hernandez was never considered the worst MLB umpire, according to MLB studies and statistical reports, but in the court of public opinion, there was no one who missed more calls as a home plate umpire.
Now he has stepped away from the game, escaping the ridicule and ridicule that has long dogged him.
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