Angel Hernandez is arguably the worst and most infamous umpire of the decade, here's why
Being an umpire in the MLB is difficult. Nobody argues that, but the performances of Angel Hernandez in recent years is a special form of atrocious. In a recent matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies, the infamous ump's terrible outing resulted in an explosion of emotions from Kyle Schwarber. The video went viral, and the name Angel Hernandez started trending for all the wrong reasons.
Officiating professional sports in North America has to be among the most thankless jobs in the world, with referees in the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB drawing the ire of fanbases on regular occasions. No sports fan ever wants to admit their team just isn't good enough to win, so the refs become an all too common excuse.
The game-changingly bad calls from Angel Hernandez's last outing were tracked and quantified by Umpire Scorecards on Twitter.
Umpire: Angel Hernandez
Final: Brewers 1, Phillies 0
#ThisIsMyCrew // #RingTheBell
#MILvsPHI // #PHIvsMIL https://t.co/x38zUGrU5E
"Umpire: Angel Hernandez Final: Brewers 1, Phillies 0" - @ Umpire Scorecards
Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber finally had enough and blew up as a result of this poor officiating, as posted by Rob Friedman via a tweet.
Finally, someone's head exploded. https://t.co/dKXBKaJnfK
"Finally, someone's head exploded" - @ Rob Friedman
While Kyle Schwarber was met with an ejection for his tirade directed at Angel Hernandez, I don't think anybody blamed the player.
How do you prevent umpires like Angel Hernandez from affecting games?
Angel Hernandez has not just been bad behind the plate, he has been in a league of his own over the past decade. With over 2,600 blown calls over the last seven years, his impact on the outcome of games is almost incomprehensible, but it's clear his inaccuracy cannot be curbed.
Codify Baseball on Twitter reported just how poor of a performance we have seen in the last decade from this umpire.
Ángel Hernández has missed over 2,600 balls and strikes calls in the last seven years and oh how I wish I was kidding. twitter.com/PitchingNinja/…
"Ángel Hernández has missed over 2,600 balls and strikes calls in the last seven years and oh how I wish I was kidding." - @ Codify Baseball
For years now, we have had the technology to implement a robot umpire for pitching calls via cameras and an artificial strike zone that is consistent and unchanging. It will likely lead to fewer, if any, missed calls. However, this concept has one fatal flaw: it removes our ability to complain. Hear me out on this one.
Losing the option to complain about officiating in a game, of any sport really, would be a huge loss. Being able to shift blame to the referee is a right that every fan exercises constantly, and it helps deal with losses that affect us far too significantly. This a right that we should fight to keep, not lose. Keeping the human element in baseball will lead to errors from umpires, but it also makes the game far more random and more interesting.
The best way to improve officiating would be for the MLB to judge their umpires the same way a team judges their players. If a player's performance were as consistently poor as that of Angel Hernandez, they likely wouldn't be in the major leagues very long. It should be the same for umpires, with performance reviews and demotions handed out for failing to perform at a high enough level.
Angel Hernandez is a very bad umpire considering the level at which he is supposed to operate. Watching Kyle Schwarber scream at him and watching fans from all sides unite to roast umpires after bad calls is an entertainment factor that should not be discounted. However, improvements in officiating should still be sought.