Angel Hernandez, the controversial veteran umpire who has drawn the ire and indignation of players, managers and fans for more than three decades, will retire from Major League Baseball on Tuesday, a senior baseball official told USA Today Sports.
The official spoke to USA Today Sports on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly before MLB makes its official announcement on Tuesday.
MLB and Hernandez had been negotiating a financial settlement over the past two weeks before reaching a resolution over the weekend.
The 62-year-old Hernandez was the home plate umpire for the final time on May 9, in a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field. He never returned and was replaced by Jacob Metz.
Hernandez, baseball’s most controversial umpire, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against MLB in 2017, alleging he was denied a crew chief position and World Series duties because of his race. He last umpired in the 2005 World Series and 2016 League Championship Series.
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The lawsuit was dismissed in U.S. District Court in 2021 and MLB was granted summary judgment.and The 33rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling last year.
“Mr. Hernandez has failed to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in the promotion rates of white and minority umpires,” the appeals court said in its 11-page decision. “MLB has presented persuasive expert evidence showing that the difference in crew chief promotion rates between white and minority umpires during the years at issue was not statistically significant. Mr. Hernandez has not explained why MLB’s statistical evidence is unreliable.”
Hernandez, a Cuban-American, began working as a professional umpire in the Florida State League at age 20. He was promoted to a full-time MLB umpire in 1993 but in recent years was considered by players and managers to be the worst umpire in baseball.
On April 12 this season, Texas Rangers rookie pitcher Wyatt Langford was heavily criticized on social media after striking out three consecutive pitches outside the strike zone. According to umpire auditors, he missed seven pitches that were at least three inches outside the strike zone.
Hernandez played in just 10 games last season because of a back injury, but missed 161 calls, according to the officiating auditor.
Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez blasted him on TBS after 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.
“Angel was the worst,” he said. “Don’t even bother talking about Angel now. MLB needs to do something about Angel. No matter how many times he sues MLB, he’s the worst.”
“I don’t understand why he officiates these games. He’s always bad. He’s a bad umpire,” Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said after the game.
Although Hernandez was never considered the worst umpire in MLB according to MLB statistical surveys and reports, public opinion suggested that no home plate umpire made more errors than he did.
Now he has left the game, free from the ridicule and mockery that has dogged him for so long.
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