After Major Screw Up in Texas, Angel Hernandez is Back in Hot Seat

It's very rare, in any sport, for the fans to know an umpire or referee. It just doesn't happen. There's a few that have distinct looks or making unique calls that get fans attention. But rarely are they ever invested in them long term. However, in pro baseball, there's one umpire that is popular with the fans...for all the wrong reasons. And after a dismal performance in Texas, fans and experts alike are calling for MLB to do something about Angel Hernandez.

Who is Angel Hernandez?

Depending on who you ask, you could probably get a lot of varied responses. But, to keep things short (and G-rated), he's widely considered to be the worst umpire in Major League Baseball history.

Trust me, I get that being an official in any sport is hard. Very rarely do I ever call one out for a blown call. It's a lot easier to spot mistakes from your couch than on the field in the moment. But, in this case, all the hate and criticisms are 100% warranted. That may seem like an overstatement, but it's really not. He has a section on his Wikipedia page dedicated to his blown calls. He's sued MLB because he thought their umpire scorecards unfairly said he sucked. I mean, you go down his resume, it's pretty dismal.

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In fact, the reason for this article, is he just (allegedly) set a record for missing a pitch by the largest margin in the history of Umpire Auditor  - in a game between the Rangers & Astros, he called a ball nearly 7 inches off the plate a strike. Seriously. He's bad. Just watch the video for yourself below.

Can MLB Do Anything About Angel Hernandez?

Hall of Fame Pitcher Pedro Martinez said this about Angel Hernandez back in 2018:

Angel was horrible. 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.

So, the big question is this: if he's so bad at his job and everyone hates him, how is he still employed? That's a question that nobody has ever answered publicly. There's a lot of theories about it. He's sued MLB so many times, there is a theory that they just think it's cheaper to keep him than fight him. The Umpires have a union, so there's a thought the union fights to keep him just because they feel obligated to go to bat for their brother.

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There's a lot of people that think Angel Hernandez is the only reason MLB is working so hard on a robot umpire system. That way they have empirical proof that he's not good at his job so they can fire him with cause and not get sued for it. And it would prevent him from completely ruining ball games.

Will MLB try to ride it out until they have an automatic balls/strike system in place? Will they try to find another way to remove him for the MLB rotation and send him back to the Minors? Who knows. Much like a cockroach, Angel Hernandez seems to survive whatever gets thrown at him.