I've been a baseball fan for 50 years, my family has rooted for the New York/San Francisco Giants since 1908, the Yankees since 1913, and I think my grandfather and father would agree that Angel Hernandez is the worst umpire we have ever seen.
He should not be calling games. I saw him on Game 3 of the Yankees' Opening Weekend against the Blue Jays, working the plate, and it was clear he had no conception of the strike zone.
I've seen umpire make mistakes...Jim Joyce, Don Denkinger, and Richie Garcia. They owned up to it, and Replay has prevented these repetitions. Grandpa told me how Bill Klem ruled games and kept them moving with absolute authority in his day. Dad pointed out to me once that Augie Donatelli learned his trade umpiring games as a PoW in German camps during World War II.
I have been a fan of Ron Luciano, Ken Kaiser, Al Clark, Doug Harvey, and Dave Phillips, who provided us with fascinating memoirs of their work. I cannot forget Steve Palermo taking a bullet, George Magerkurth getting attacked on the field by a fan at Ebbets Field -- the attacker was providing cover for his buddy, who was picking pockets in the stands -- and how umpires are expected to start off perfect and only improve from there.
But Mr. Hernandez is just no good.
Get Larry Gerlach's "The Men in Blue." It's oral history of umps. He interviewed a bunch of them, from the 1930s to the 1970s. He gives them statistics at the start of each chapter: years and leagues they worked, All-Star Games, World Series, Playoffs, and the times they were behind the plate for a No-Hitter. Umpires should be thought of that way.
That's super interesting. Thanks for writing that. I'll have to check that book out.
Yeah. I've never seen anything like this before. Pitches down the middle are balls. Far outside is a strike. I just saw a recent Jomboy video and they replayed one of his calls and it shows him closing his eyes. He never bothers to run to get a good view of the play and just guesses.
Honestly he reminds me of some little league umps that we would get who you could tell hated being there and would just call strikes to end the game.
Also get "As They See 'Em," a modern book about the lives of umpires, "The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand," in which a reporter was embedded with an umpiring crew in 1974, and the Society for American Baseball Research book "Umpires and the Art of Umpiring." All are great.
Contact me off-line and I can get you the latter book from SABR for members' price ($17.99) instead of non-members. ($34.99)
Only one umpire in baseball history was banned for life: Tim Higham, in the 1880s. He threw games.
Someone asked an umpire why gamblers never approached them to dump games, and the ump (it might have been Klem) responded: "Because we'd throw him out the hotel room window."
I've been a baseball fan for 50 years, my family has rooted for the New York/San Francisco Giants since 1908, the Yankees since 1913, and I think my grandfather and father would agree that Angel Hernandez is the worst umpire we have ever seen.
He should not be calling games. I saw him on Game 3 of the Yankees' Opening Weekend against the Blue Jays, working the plate, and it was clear he had no conception of the strike zone.
I've seen umpire make mistakes...Jim Joyce, Don Denkinger, and Richie Garcia. They owned up to it, and Replay has prevented these repetitions. Grandpa told me how Bill Klem ruled games and kept them moving with absolute authority in his day. Dad pointed out to me once that Augie Donatelli learned his trade umpiring games as a PoW in German camps during World War II.
I have been a fan of Ron Luciano, Ken Kaiser, Al Clark, Doug Harvey, and Dave Phillips, who provided us with fascinating memoirs of their work. I cannot forget Steve Palermo taking a bullet, George Magerkurth getting attacked on the field by a fan at Ebbets Field -- the attacker was providing cover for his buddy, who was picking pockets in the stands -- and how umpires are expected to start off perfect and only improve from there.
But Mr. Hernandez is just no good.
Get Larry Gerlach's "The Men in Blue." It's oral history of umps. He interviewed a bunch of them, from the 1930s to the 1970s. He gives them statistics at the start of each chapter: years and leagues they worked, All-Star Games, World Series, Playoffs, and the times they were behind the plate for a No-Hitter. Umpires should be thought of that way.
That's super interesting. Thanks for writing that. I'll have to check that book out.
Yeah. I've never seen anything like this before. Pitches down the middle are balls. Far outside is a strike. I just saw a recent Jomboy video and they replayed one of his calls and it shows him closing his eyes. He never bothers to run to get a good view of the play and just guesses.
Honestly he reminds me of some little league umps that we would get who you could tell hated being there and would just call strikes to end the game.
Also get "As They See 'Em," a modern book about the lives of umpires, "The Best Seat in Baseball, But You Have to Stand," in which a reporter was embedded with an umpiring crew in 1974, and the Society for American Baseball Research book "Umpires and the Art of Umpiring." All are great.
Contact me off-line and I can get you the latter book from SABR for members' price ($17.99) instead of non-members. ($34.99)
Only one umpire in baseball history was banned for life: Tim Higham, in the 1880s. He threw games.
Someone asked an umpire why gamblers never approached them to dump games, and the ump (it might have been Klem) responded: "Because we'd throw him out the hotel room window."
Haha nice
I don't follow MLB much, but maybe the guy is just neurodivergent and sees the rules of the game differently than everyone else.
I think his eyeballs might be divergent
He calls a big strike zone. It just happens to be as wide as Philadelphia County, that’s all.
God he is so so bad at his job
😂😂😂
😂😂
you call this satire, this might be the truth, however. he isn't fit to call little league games