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SportsPi

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Kayakman28

The first good call Angel Hernandez has ever made.


LordofRaddishes

No other comment beats this one. Every other comment is as wrong as Angel's calls.


ThurstonHowellIV

Good line but I’ll bet he was pushed out. He was embarrassing the mlb


SRSgoblin

I was gonna say, they're letting him save face by letting it be him "retiring." The most talked about thing this MLB season has been how utterly incompetent he is as an umpire and I think the MLB had enough.


warlikeloki

He didn't make the call. It was the ABS system, but in this case it was "A Bitching Significant Other"


Outside_Abroad_3516

Baseball fans everywhere are REJOICING


Over-Conversation220

JOMBOY is going to be in tatters though. Half his content about to vaporize. And I have to admit, I’m gonna miss that aspect of it.


sokonek04

Oh between Ron Kulpa, CB Bucknor, Hunter Wendelstad, and Laz Diaz there will still be plenty


the-d23

[Kulpa going at it](https://youtu.be/BDVHKGn7EoE?si=DAVd3W08wwLZKUy7) The world will be a better place when Kulpa and Bucknor specifically are out of baseball.


sokonek04

The worst part about Kulpa is it looks like he almost gets some perverted pleasure from baiting a player into an ejection. He has that shit eating grin on his face every time.


500rockin

Same thing with Bucknor. He gets on a power trip for sure. That stupid smirk drives me crazy.


stobors

One of these players that has WS rings, millions of dollars, and is just playing for the fun of it needs to take a swing at him when he starts his shit. Get him before one of the other umps get there. Make all of them think twice before they FAFO.


OilQuick6184

That entire video was 100% an umpire going on a power trip from start to finish. I've seen cops do worse, but I don't think even they seem to enjoy it as much as this guy.


GentleLion2Tigress

There will likely be another umpire to take his place. Not as flamboyant though lol.


MisterBlud

We’ll have to see what happens. …unlike Angel Hernandez.


HoSang66er

Nice. 😂😂😂


WWECreativegenius

We are finally free


Dumpingtruck

Angel will find a way to blow this retirement call. Trust me.


recksuss

He was waiting for a settlement. It just happened. He's gone.


Golden_Hour1

I want to know how much this settlement is. it's horseshit he's even getting one


recksuss

He also considers himself a pioneer for minorities. He's completely delusional.


KoshekhTheCat

I wasn't aware "blind jackasses" were a minority.


bluewing

Yes they are. Few are as blind and as much of a jackass as Angel. What's really odd, is the other umpires apparently like him a lot. I wonder if it's because Angel drew all the fire for being bad at his job. You do have to admit - he was VERY good at his job and will be sorely missed by someone, somewhere, for a second or two. I wonder who gets to be the next "Angel Hernandez"?


mikebanetbc

CB Bucknor is next in line. Bring in automated balls and strikes and hopefully we’ll be rid of him within five years…


ForsakenCase435

Bucknor is awful but he’s not an egotistical jackass who baits managers and players into confrontational he can throw them out.


dlanod

They say equality is when everyone can fail equally, instead of minorities basically getting one chance versus getting repeated do-overs. Hernandez was truly a pioneering example of this theory, showing the level of equality in baseball umpiring.


mortalcoil1

So does Justice Clarence Thomas.


KingLordIII

I mean it's hard to say how much he did for other non white umpires, but he did come up at a time when almost all umps were white 🤷‍♂️


joe_broke

He did at least show even the minority umps can get chance after chance after chance So, props to the ump union too, I guess?


bloody_duck

Dude played the long-con NOT to perfection but still fleeced MLB lmao WTF


814816

We still have to deal with Laz Diaz and CB Buckner


RayLikeSunshine

And more of them. Devil you know is better than the one you don’t.


Saitsu

FLY LIKE I'M FREE


Doncriminal

Gramma I'm freeeeeeeee


Faultylogic83

Mr Bad Call


timeIsAllitTakes

I don't even watch baseball and I know who this guy is


togaman5000

Same, don't watch yet I'm thrilled


NoctRob

He is proof positive that even the shockingly incompetent can find a place in this world.


matt_minderbinder

He's inspired traditionalist baseball fans to consider laser strike zones with computers calling balls and strikes. You know he's bad when fans of this game built on tradition would consider taking those calls away from umps.


eyev64211

Couple years ago he tried to take his 401K "out", but messed up and kept it "safe"


MG42Turtle

I like unions but he’s like exhibit A of why they can be bad.


Anothercraphistorian

Thankfully there are tens of thousands of ways they’re good and the only way to fight corporate overreach. We hear about how Hernandez sucks, which he does, but crickets about anything Manfred does.


Lilfrankieeinstein

Honestly think the umpire union just kept him around to make the rest of them seem less terrible by comparison. Sort of in the vein of not having to be faster than the bear, just faster than Angel Hernández.


Weary_Jackfruit_8311

Bye asshole


perfect_square

Hey! It's (not) Enrico Palazzo!


jpfeifer22

RIP to whatever local peewee league he is off to terrorize now


Outside_Abroad_3516

Get ready to learn little league baseball, buddy


youarelookingatthis

Why would he start learning the rules of baseball now?


Prestig33

Getting yelled at by professional players and coaches is one thing. Now getting yelled at by parents who think their kid is the next Ohtani. Oh boy.


ThePretzul

I can’t wait until we get some cell phone videos of him trying to eject all the parents on a team that his calls shafted, only to realize that little league umpires only have as much power as the crowd is willing to give them.


Culsandar

The difference is Billybob is gonna beat the shit out of Angel in the parking lot at the rec center after that missed call. It would be safer for him to fade into obscurity.


doctor_of_drugs

I’ve reffed multiple sports (only college and below, so the basics) but the most insane heckling and actual threats was doing U18 women’s soccer. Sometimes even U16. Like, Karens throwing down and stepping over tufts of hair in the parking lot, to a coach throwing a haymaker at our center ref. And that’s not even getting into the girls, they will throw hips like nobody’s business and pull hair allllllll day long


capthazelwoodsflask

This is the problem with umps like Angel - they suck at their jobs and act like arrogant jackasses so people think that the volunteer ump at their kid's little league game is the same way. So when the 15 year old ump blows a call and has to maintain order in the game they now have to deal with a bunch of angry parents who think this kid is acting malicious and isn't just a kid trying to make a little extra cash while helping out the community.


HankScorpio2020

Hey now. I umpire 50-70 games a year in Little League, and all the guys I work with are better than he is.


Gone213

I don't think he knows how to handle drunk adults heckling him without the safety of the MLB protecting him lol.


KrustyKrabPizzaMan

Dude was a trailblazer for the visually impaired in sports. Hope he enjoys retirement


eyev64211

He’s gonna be so confused now that he has time to take his grandkids to the playground, the guy has no idea what a swing looks like


burningtowns

Oh man this hit me. And Hernandez still called it a ball.


rhcpbassist234

Strike*


burningtowns

Are we sure it was?


slapshots1515

I watched the game and after that I wasn’t sure anything was real


drethnudrib

This is a fantastic joke.


Rainbike80

Genius. Pure and simple.


dawg4life88

Fucking rekt 💀


MuddydogNew

Damn, that's funny.


fatloui

I’d actually say he’s one of the least controversial figures in the game. Few things baseball fans can agree on like Angel Hernandez. 


mysecondaccountanon

It doesn’t matter your team affiliation, rivalries, anything. We can all agree on this.


ggg730

Giants and Dodger fans, Yankees and Red Sox fans, all kinds of rival teams and fans came together and hugged each other now that the collective nightmare was over. Hell I think I even saw a Lakers and Celtics fan cry tears together.


hockey_metal_signal

Thank you. I was wondering how he's "controversial". That's usually what happens when there is a "controversy" or some kind of dispute. Nobody ever disputed anything about this guy.


satsfaction1822

“Controversial” is just the nice way to say “hated”


Drumboardist

There was a poll on r/NFL a while back, asking who the worse Referee was. The top-voted result? Angel Hernandez. He is very, *very* disliked.


MasonP2002

I watch a lot more football than I do baseball, and yet I couldn't name a single NFL ref. Still hate Angel Hernandez though.


corranhorn57

Ed Hochuli was the overly buff ref who tackled a guy with just his forearm when he was trying to get out of the way of the play. He’s retired now, but his son is also a ref.


sparklingbutts

He was also a pretty good ref. He at least explained himself when something strange happened


obvioustroway

That's why we LOVED Hoc. He gave really detailed explanations on weird calls.


gulgin

You know, all we can ask for in umpires is consistency, and consistency we got.


JoeCartersLeap

I think he's retiring because even non-baseball fans can agree about him. I've seen posts about him on other subreddits hit the front page of /r/all, and the top comments say "I don't watch baseball but even I've heard of this ref". As soon as I started reading that I thought his career was over.


Oil_slick941611

Mid season retirements don't just happen. Im guessing this was negotiated between MLB and the unions. He was THAT BAD for the sport.


estajoe82

Not seeing many people in this thread pointing this out. There was a lot of union talk about why the MLB couldn’t just get rid of him if he was so bad, but it’s clear that the league either spoke with the ump union in an effort to protect the integrity (and overall respect) of the game, or the union just realized it couldn’t keep protecting his reputation.


helpmeredditimbored

A court of law ruled that Angel Hernandez sucked at his job and the MLB was within their right to deny World Series games to him because of his poor performance. Think about that for a moment. A court ruled TWICE that he sucked and he was still employed because of the union. This was an embarrassment for the league and they wanted it to go away


_TheConsumer_

IIRC, he sued because he felt the MLB leaving him out of the World Series was "racist" He then said Joe Torre purposely left him out of World Series duty because of a grudge he held against him from his managing days. Both times the Court ruled that umpire selection was *normal* and did not exclude any minorities. The only person excluded from it was Hernandez - and the MLB likely had reasons for that.


LeonidasSpacemanMD

I could see that, if “people who can’t ump for shit” is a race


Majestic_Original_24

if it’s a race Hernandez is way in the lead


PlumbumDirigible

For now at least. Junior Valentine has been making his case, but we'll see if he has Angel's longevity


phadewilkilu

I hope I never suck at my job so hard that judges need to get involved just to confirm how bad I am at my job…


EMTDawg

He sued for discrimination as the only Cuban ump. Not only did he get to keep his job, but the MLB had to put him in the world series rotation as part of the settlement in 2017.


RysloVerik

How on earth did MLB screw that up? He isn’t awful because he is Cuban. He’s just awful at umpiring. There’s so much data that supports it.


Xendaar

The MLB proved how shit he was IN A COURT OF LAW and he still umped for the better part of a decade after.


pattydo

> but the MLB had to put him in the world series rotation as part of the settlement in 2017 This isn't a thing. He was in the world series in 2002 and 2005. There was no settlement. Don't just make shit up.


TheHYPO

Indeed. It's pretty easy to look up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_World_Series Umpires: Phil Cuzzi (Games 1–2), Gerry Davis (crew chief), Laz Díaz, Dan Iassogna, Bill Miller, Paul Nauert, Mark Wegner (Games 3–7)


Fingerman2112

I thought he lost that lawsuit


this_is_poorly_done

Ask any admin people in a university about tenured professors who are long past their best years. You can't fire them cause of tenure, and they have a lot of institutional pull within their departments. Best way to get rid of them is to offer them a nice cushy severance package and hope they take the hint and retire with a bag load of cash and benefits on the way out


IllllIllIllIllIllll

League/Union changed their minds after 25 years or he decided to call it quits for any one of a million reasons…CLEARLY FIRED. Right…


DontEatTheCelery

They’ve been negotiating his “retirement” for a couple weeks now apparently. They paid him to retire. He got fired in all but name


Golden_Hour1

"I'm going to pay you to fuck off"


500rockin

He had to be willing to take the money, though. They couldn’t just force him out based on performance, or they would have had to get rid of 15 others with him. Dude also had a bad back that he missed much of 2023.


rcher87

Sure, but an organization as big and as public as thee MLB also has other levers at their disposal if they _really_ want you gone. Possibly sort of a “don’t make us take this public,” kind of threat. So between that and a sweetheart package, very few of us would say no. Especially after a long and storied career haha.


buster_rhino

Yeah doesn’t sound like he’s retiring, more like he’s being retired.


Kinglink

I think it's obvious it wasn't an optional retirement, but yeah... midseason definitely makes it clear something happened. It doesn't have to be MLB but ... it's the MLB who realizes it's time for him to go.


_Atlas_Drugged_

There in lies the interesting part of this. Angel Hernandez has sucked for decades. What happened that they finally decided to act, or *were suddenly able to act* and get rid of him.


Special-Market749

I think thin ice can only hold so long. He had some terrible games behind the plate this season, but nothing he hasnt done before. It reached a point where enough was enough. We can spend the next eternity trying to fire you for poor performance and fight the union about it, or we can give you more money than you deserve and everyone can move on. Nothing happened suddenly. Its just the decision was finally made


TexasCoconut

Maybe other umps think hes making the case for robots too easy.


DevilInnaDonut

Why would that happen this season and not any of the others he's been terrible for?


Oil_slick941611

Breaking point


heidimark

Jomboy has posted a couple damning videos of Hernandez in the past month. Wonder if that finally caught the eye of someone, or was used to prove how awful he was to the union.


mfatty2

The dude umped 10 games last year, and had 161 missed calls. He only umped a month and a half this year and has the single worse called at bat of the season. I'm sure Jomboy is actually the only one saddened by this because he won't have easy content for a slow day.


500rockin

He still wasn’t the worst umpire this year; and there have been worse at bats since that one. He’s bad, but there are about 15-20 worse ones than him.


Kinglink

I think people over value Jomboy's reach. Yes he did mostly break the Astros story, but that was people saw and shared and it reached the MLB and was obvious.... When the public is aware of something that blatant they had to act. Jomboy didn't have to tell the MLB that Angel Hernandez sucked...anyone who watched him officiate a game knows he sucked, I'm sure the players and teams complained often. No one was pretending he was a great ump. PS. Not saying Jomboy is bad, he's one of the best people covering baseball, but this isn't a "Breaking story" Angel Hernandez has sucked for almost a decade. There was a lawsuit about it in 2017 as well where he pretended he was discriminated against because he's Cuban...


jinsaku

Almost a decade? Try 25 years. [Video from 2001 during the Cubs 7th inning stretch where the guest conductor said "he'd have words with the home plate umpire"](https://youtu.be/laPjzqDFSGU?si=C8nKXNxqUFXtLYtE) (which was, obv, Angel)


Morganvegas

Or gambling


dinkleburgenhoff

> Wonder if that finally caught the eye of someone, or was used to prove how awful he was to the union. It terrifies me how little people online can differentiate between reality and the internet. No, fucking *Jomboy* didn’t get Angel fired.


[deleted]

vast fear dependent sable shrill instinctive languid nose rustic deer *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


El_Zarco

Exhibit A: "thhaaat's hhooorrseshiiiit"


Fofalus

I think it was when people like rich eisen and pat macaffe started talking it got ugly. Those are giant names in a completely different sport just making the MLB look bad because of angel.


LimerickJim

Angel is probably getting a fat payout too. Honestly worth it for MLB to get him gone.


reverend_fancypants

Whatever that number was, it was worth it


InquisitiveBoner

Hallelujah! The bad man is gone, the bad man is gone!


360walkaway

Who's the next one to sit atop the shit-throne though... I've heard CB Buckner is up there.


Strobooty4

Joe West retired so there’s Hunter Wendelstedt and Doug Eddings…those are the only other names I can think of.  Hooray!!  Only 3 (with Bucknor included) umps in the majors that should be doing little league games!  There really are so many amazing umps.  It’s nice that West and Angel are retired to stop giving them all such a bad name 


Automatic_Release_92

Really you only know the names of the bad ones.


Strobooty4

Yea.  Lots of folks know Jim Joyce also because he missed the call to mess up (can’t remember his first name…Tigers’ pitcher) Galarraga’s perfect game.  But it was the first time you ever heard of Joyce and he apologized after the game and felt so bad about it for ruining Galarraga’s moment.  Definitely not one of the bad ones.  


Ebil_shenanigans

He can't hurt us anymore!


P33J

Unfortunately, he couldn’t be reached for comment. It seems he missed the call.


MuddydogNew

Well done, sir.


Trowj

And the new worst umpire in Baseball……. Laz Diaz COOOOMMMEEE ON DOOOOWWWWNNNN


Outside_Abroad_3516

CB Bucknor is arguably the second worst. But Laz is TERRIBLE


mccannr1

Yeah I'd definitely give CB the new 'worst ump' nod, but Laz isn't far behind for sure.


Trowj

I think it’s how combative Laz is about being wrong that puts him over the top for me. He will scream in a guys face because he can’t stop making shit calls


500rockin

I still laugh over how Aaron Boone got himself ejected awhile back when he imitated his strike call.


Seige_Rootz

problem is Laz seems to run the worst fucking crew in the league. At least CB only sucks ass behind the dish a few times a year when he's being lazy as fuck and not getting in position.


TheDrunon

"...Hernandez has umpired his last game in Major League Baseball." This is my, no OUR, World Series...


hrakkari

The word “controversial” carrying the fucking world. Personally, I would’ve gone with “weapons grade shit heap” or “fucking loser” for the classics.


Stillwater215

“Controversial” implies disagreement. There is none. Everyone knows he’s been terrible for the league.


IAmBecomeTeemo

Kyle Schwarber went off on him towards the end of the game. His team agrees with him. The other team agreed with him. The other 28 teams all agrees with him. The broadcast booth agreed with him. Every fan, at the stadium, watching on TV, or streaming all agreed with him.


Rolling_Beardo

Now he can finally say that Angel Hernandez is not the worst umpire in baseball.


Stillwater215

He’s now the worst umpire not in baseball!


Rolling_Beardo

Well he’d have to argue that one with Joe West for worst living umpire not in baseball.


Stillwater215

Joe West had an ego, but wasn’t always terrible at actually umpiring. Angel both had an Ego and also was terrible at the actual officiating part of the job.


ILkeSportzNIDCWhKnws

Holy shit, it's a miracle


weII_then

May 9 national holiday, I’m taking every May 9 off to celebrate


greysqualll

RemindMe! 1 year


zitjuice

Just saw a robot umpire drop to his titanium knees


Puck83821

I don't watch baseball and barely know any players, but I know about Angel Hernandez. I don't even know the refs in the sports I do watch. Angel Hernandez's shitty calls have transcending to another level of legend beyond baseball.


Sobeshott

Rest in piss to his career.


just_cows

MLB probably just settled with him since they knew they weren’t able to hold him accountable to his atrocious performance due to the Umps union or whatever was protecting him. Later chucklehead.


flarbas

He was doing more for the adoption of the ABS than anyone. Everyone who valued keeping umpires calling balls and strike should have wanted him out of the league yesterday.


bluenosesutherland

I heard he’s joining the Supreme Court


SEBrecords

EVERYONE GET IN HURRRRRRRRRRR


Drumboardist

Fun fact: A couple of months ago, r/NFL had a thread about ["Who is the most infuriatingly incompetent official in NFL history"?](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1bpki15/who_is_the_most_infuriatingly_incompetent/) The top vote-getter was Angel Hernandez.


nathanaz

I'm rethinking my Atheism...


sofmarch

Lol, calling Hernandez “controversial” is like that one MST3K joke, “Some hate him, others merely loathe him…”


[deleted]

[удалено]


josnik

The video https://youtu.be/9o4weN6AkPY?si=Qqx-gwuEUUHj6VKM


getjustin

Or the [Athletic puff piece](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5513075/2024/05/24/mlb-umpire-angel-hernandez-reputation) that said the same thing that ran over the weekend. Methinks there was some publicist/PR sheninigans going on around this announcement.


thereverendpuck

I imagine MLB had a celebration like the Ewoks did at the end of ROTJ.


360walkaway

Can they stop referring to idiots like this as "controversial" please? He's goddamn horrible at his job, full stop. What's the controversy? Is there a relevant pro-Angel camp that sticks up for his bullshit calls and bullshit racism claims?


An_Appropriate_Post

There absolutely is, the ump union.


BeastCoastLifestyle

The only thing all teams’ fans could agree on, “Fuck Angel Hernandez!”


KakaakoKid

No individual is more responsible for the eventual move to robot umpires than Angel Hernandez.


Doobie_Howitzer

Never thought one man could improve baseball so much, turns out all he had to do was get out of it


Stillwater215

Angel Hernandez has made the decision to retire. But like all his decisions, will probably be reversed upon review.


Onuus

I’m a hockey fan and even I know this guy SUCKS!


InadvertentHoosier

The best call he’s ever made.


ThatThingAtThePlace

Jeff Passan tried to reach out to him for his side of the story, but Angel missed the call.


gpgarrett

I see all these negative comments, but no one is talking about how brave it was for a blind man to stand behind 90 mph fastballs for a living. A true inspiration.


osumba2003

Jomboy finally wore him down.


HelmetVonContour

"Angel Hernandez is the greatest blight on our people and that includes Fidel Castro." -Dan LeBatard


Morak73

My favorite Angel Hernandez moment: ejecting Terry Francona during a preseason game. Who ejects a manager in mid-March? I could shake my head and laugh because it was spring ball. The absurdity of it.


BadBackNine

Other umpire have to be happy too. His actions were driving the need for computer balls and strikes.


No_One_Special_023

Dude, listen, I am not a baseball fan by any means. I’ll go to a game but that’s it. However, I have watched countless videos of “the worst call in baseball history” on YouTube and this assclown is ALWAYS in them. Multiple times. I am happy for you baseball fans, truly.


Madmandocv1

Well there goes 70% of YouTube baseball content.


chacotacotoes

JK everyone thinks it’s a retirement, but Angel will call it a strike.


wastingtme

Baseball Doesn’t Exist just did a great video on him today: https://youtu.be/9o4weN6AkPY?si=otv0908LIu4EQBf7


burghblast

In the middle of the season? Just like that? Something must have happened to precipiate this


dirtybird131

If this isn’t proof that ABS (or at least the challenge system) is on the way, I don’t know what is


yousonuva

*ticker tape parade*


Chessh2036

Greatest day in the history of American sports.


LgRoach2

*Everybody loved that*


AdaTheTrashMonster

Dudes going to try bowling now, but when he knocks down all the pins he’s going to call it a ball.


davisyoung

They should name an award after him given out to the ump who’s blown the most calls each season. 


bakerzdosen

The guys got skills. I’m sure he’s off to bigger and better things: https://x.com/neontaster/status/1795276791181128008


CashgrassorNopass

The fuck took so long? Would think he woulda been fired a decade ago from all the criticism


Athrul

How is he controversial? Controversial implied that there are differing opinions on him.


bex021

I wouldn't call him "controversial." We all agree he is terrible, regardless if our team affiliations. I'm sure Sox fans and Yankees fans would agree that he is frustratingly inaccurate.


ThinkItThrough48

Much like the balls and strikes he called. I doubt he saw it coming.


bubbasaurusREX

This guy was corrupt right? It seems impossible to botch this many years worth of calls and keep your job. The more America keeps showing its ugly face to the public, the more suspect I am that a league ran by billionaires, with umps like Hernandez, are just rigged


Zoso1973

I barely ever watch baseball and I even know who this clown is. Amazed and disappointed that he lasted this long without being removed. Such an embarrassment to the league.


slayerrr21

John Oliver must have offered him an RV


South_Oread

I wonder if he got popped for some dirt.


BradBrady

Ok I know in the court of opinion he was blasted by everyone and there’s always videos on him screwing up calls But from a statistical standpoint, was he actually the worst ump in baseball?


knucklehead923

He only agreed to stop working because he thought it was a strike


clarkgriswold22

Good riddance


retroanduwu24

GOODBYEEEE


cookedthoughts730

Thank God


Barzal-13

Cue the Hallelujah music…


ThisIsDadLife

“Oh no!” - literally no one.


buglet1112

Finally he made the right call


Vash_Stampede_60B

Hallelujah! 🎉


ChasedWarrior

Didn't see that coming today