As Ángel Hernández officially hung up his calls this week, those across sports media have had no problems piling on the criticism when discussing the fallout of the embattled umpire’s retirement.
On his #Greeny radio show this week, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg called Hernández the most disliked official he’s ever encountered in his lifetime. And based on the reaction, with Billy Crystal and the Ohio secretary of state getting in on the fun, it stands to reason that nobody would dare disagree with that sentiment.
“In the NBA, you sort of know some of the official names, and in football, you know the referees, a few of the ones who become famous,” Greenberg began. “And baseball, you generally tend to know a lot of the umpires pretty well. I don’t think there has ever been a more universally disrespected or unrespected umpire in baseball history than Ángel Hernández.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIgKP7fBvAg&t=2s
He quipped that we can now move on to the important things, like deciphering a strike. Based on video evidence, we’re not so sure Hernández knows what one is either. But now, Major League Baseball, its players, and its fans no longer have to worry about that prospect.
“The best thing yesterday was to watch as people were just posting one after another, pitches that were 6,7,8 inches outside that he called a strike,” said Greenberg. “Ringing people up on the most ridiculous…He lived to call you out on strikes on a pitch that wasn’t close, more than anybody.”
Paul “Hembo” Hembekide chimed in, expressing his frustration that discussions about Angel Hernandez always overshadowed the players’ performances. Fans attending MLB games shouldn’t be focused on the umpire, yet Hernandez constantly made the game about himself. Hembo believes baseball must move away from this trend as quickly as possible.
“It’ll take it a step, father. He had no sense of humor about it,” Greenberg continued. “Which is to say, in the old days when Earl Weaver would come out of the dugout and yell at umps, there was a give-and-take to it. Angel Hernández was not to be questioned. He just gave. He would make like four terrible calls in a row, and the second somebody looked at him funny, he would throw them at them.
“I don’t want — well, yeah, I do. I want to call it what it was. He was terrible at that job, and the celebration was remarkable to watch yesterday all across social media.”
With Hernandez gone, maybe MLB needs a new lightning rod as the face of fan and player frustration. Perhaps Greenberg, who has tried to throw his hat into the ring to be the league’s commissioner numerous times, could serve as the answer.
[#Greeny]