The night umpire Angel Hernandez announced his retirement from baseball, former big league pitcher CC Sabathia posted a memorable farewell to X. It was a Looney Tunes GIF. That’s all friends.
Hernandez, the lightning rod referee best known for his controversial calls and heated ejections, announced Monday evening he walks away from the game at 62. MLB approached Hernandez about retiring earlier in the season, a baseball source said, and he had not umpired a game since May 9 when the two sides reached an agreement financial.
Hernandez was The most famous umpire in MLB, and a topic as frequent in clubhouses and dugouts as it is in comments sections and social media posts. His worst calls and fiery brand have made him ripe for memes. Over the years, many baseball figures, from Sabathia to Ian Kinsler, from Bryce Harper to Ron Washington, have disparaged Hernandez and his calls.
https://t.co/OXStxIP0jr pic.twitter.com/OTLU3eaRhj
– CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) May 28, 2024
And now he’s gone.
“He’s been such a topic around the league, the players, the coaches, the managers, the fans,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Tuesday. “I think on a day like today we should just thank him for his time in the game. … He’s one of the characters in the game that everyone has a story about, whether it’s an interaction on the field, as a manager, we argue with him all the time. Players, there are a lot of jokes going back and forth.
Hinch knows Hernandez’s anger as well as anyone. In 2019, Hernandez fired then-Astros manager Hinch, during the first inning of a spring training game. Hinch, typically diplomatic, spoke afterward: “The fact that he wanted to throw me in a spring training game is pretty ridiculous,” Hinch said. “He is known for his somewhat excessive reactions.”
Hinch accused Hernandez of having an “arrogant” attitude and saying “condescending things that are inappropriate and unprofessional.”
Even last April, Hinch had a long, heated discussion with Hernandez about a checking call at Citi Field. But the day after Hernández announced his retirement, the Tigres manager took a different tone.
“I’m on his resume as being kicked out by him,” Hinch said. “I’ve had quite a few run-ins with him, but I think it’s important that we realize what he did for the game and the good he did, despite some of the frustrations.”
so Angel Hernández said it was a swing 😮 pic.twitter.com/QCoIqXAZPI
– Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 5, 2024
Hernandez was by no means one of the best umpires in MLB. Data from public referee scorecards also indicated that Hernandez’s reputation had grown out of proportion — he typically ranked in the 60s or 70s out of 85 to 90 referees, according to Dylan Yep, the founder of Umpire Auditor.
What is indisputable is that Hernández has become the most famous umpire in MLB. His 33-year career spans an era when fan attention has increased thanks to strike zones on television, the proliferation of social media and umpire evaluations from people like Yep.
“I think it’s gotten worse over the years because you can see right away if someone’s been missed,” Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn said. “It’s hard for them because there are some guys who will say, ‘Let me know if I missed this.’ And then there are guys who don’t want to go back and see if they missed it.
Lynn and Cardinals manager Oli Marmol share the distinction of being Hernandez’s last ejected. It happened on March 8 during spring training, when both men were ejected for arguments over balls and strikes. “He was going at it with the dugout,” Lynn said. “I started cooing with him and he didn’t like it.”
Tuesday in Cincinnati, Marmol was informed of this anecdote.
“Am I? Oh man,” Marmol said. “I like it.”
For what?
Marmol turned to a member of the team’s public relations staff and said, “I’m going to save you a lot of work.” » Marmol did not elaborate on his feelings.
Hernández has drawn reactions, some public and many not, regarding his calls. But his peer referees and even managers like Cincinnati’s David Bell spoke highly of Hernandez as a person: “I always had respectful interactions with Angel,” Bell said. That was a common feeling Tuesday.
“I think he’s been, wrongly, the poster child as a punching bag for umpiring,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And I think sometimes that has been unfair and overblown. The reality is he spent a lot of time in this league and he cared about his craft. I think it’s a bit unfortunate in the face of what I consider exaggerated criticism of him, even as he retires.
Hernandez’s place in the game was complicated when he filed a lawsuit against MLB in 2017. Hernandez claimed racial discrimination prevented him from becoming a full-time team manager and getting coveted assignments in the playoffs. The lawsuit was twice dismissed in federal court, even as the topic became a rare window into the relationship between MLB and its umpires.
“If you talk about baseball, everyone knows who Angel Hernandez is,” Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said. “Even talking to my brothers, they wouldn’t know any referee, but they would know who Angel Hernández is.”
It is rare for players and managers to openly criticize referees, particularly by name. A fine is guaranteed. And many sacrificed their hard-earned money for the catharsis of evacuation.
Current Angels manager Ron Washington heavily criticized Hernandez in 2011 when he was captain of the Texas Rangers.
“Angel is bad,” Washington said 13 years ago. “That’s all we can say about it. …I’m going to get fined for what I said to Angel. And they might add something to it because of what I said about Angel But hey, the truth is the truth.
But time heals everything. And class as Hernandez walks away is the overriding feeling in all of sport.
Hernandez kicks out Bob Melvin in 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
“Congratulations on a long career,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin. “If you get that much scrutiny, you’ve been there a long time and you’re doing something right.”
Even Washington, which never hesitates to share its point of view, seems to have forgiven, even forgotten.
“I guess he must have had enough,” Washington said. “Being so close to the season, he decided to retire.
“I guess he’s had enough.”
AthleticismKen Rosenthal, C. Trent Rosecrans and Eno Sarris contributed to this report.
(Top photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)