Ángel Hernández’s blunders on the diamond have made him the butt end of jokes for over two decades.
The embattled and oft-ridiculed big-league umpire was on the diamond making unbelievable mistakes since 1993, and his track record is astounding.
Perhaps the questionable calls led to his abrupt retirement from the MLB in 2024.
Hernández has been the cause of plenty of fan-anger from all across the league for a seemingly endless stream of questionable calls.
Hernández, who is Cuban-born, was even entangled the very league he served in controversy, suing Major League Baseball in 2017 for alleged racial discrimination because he had not been assigned a World Series since 2005 and had been passed over for crew chief.
The umpire’s case, which also claimed that former Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre had an animus against him since 2001, was shot down by a U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
So why is Hernández so well-known? Here are the umpire’s ten worst calls during his career.
Not even close Kyle Schwarber strike-three
MLB fans probably remember one of the more recent Hernández disasters, which happened during a Brewers-Phillies “Sunday Night Baseball” game on ESPN in 2022.
As the Brewers led 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, then-Milwaukee closer Josh Hader dealt a 3-2 fastball to Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber, and the 98 mph offering was clearly outside.
Schwarber, who watched on as Hernández delivered poor calls all night, unleashed his fury toward Hernández in an explosive fit of rage, throwing his bat and screaming at the umpire.
The Philadelphia outfielder was promptly ejected for his outburst, but his emotions seemed valid to many who were watching the game during one of its pivotal moments.
“Schwarber is speaking for both sides tonight,” play-by-play man Karl Ravech said. “We saw a lot of those demonstrations, none like that. We saw them as players went back to the bench.”
The Phillies lost 1-0, and Hernández was the lowest-rated umpire in MLB that day, missing 19 calls for a correct percentage of just 85.9%, per Umpire Auditor.
Largest miss in Umpire Auditor History
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse — it does.
In April 2024, Hernández called strikes on three straight pitches outside the zone in a game between the Rangers and Astros.
The called third strike missed the plate by 6.78 inches, according to Umpire Auditor — the largest miss on a strikeout in the social-media account’s tracking history.
To make matters worse, the three consecutive pitches were ranked as the three most impactful missed calls of the game according to UmpScorecards.com.
An Atlanta Embarrassment
It’s not often that an MLB umpire misses a strike call when the pitch was right down the middle.
How often does it happen on consecutive pitches? When Hernández is involved, there’s no telling what could happen.
In an April 2022 contest between the Nationals and the Braves, Hernández missed consecutive calls during an at-bat between Washington reliever Patrick Murphy and Braves outfielder Adam Duvall, on both a breaking ball that landed in the center of the plate followed by a fastball.
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz appeared to pause in confusion before tossing the pitch back, and the broadcast agreed, saying, “Perfect fastball, another ball.”
A Late ’90s Mets Catastrophe
The Mets faithful will recall one unfortunate moment in 1998 in which Hernández essentially stole a game from the Amazins’ in Atlanta.
When Atlanta’s Michael Tucker sped around third base in the bottom of the eleventh inning, Mets left fielder Bernard Gilkey threw an on-target dart home to Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who scooped the in-time throw and appeared to tag Tucker’s foot before he touched home.
Hernández thought otherwise.
The umpire, then in his eighth season in MLB, called Tucker safe, handing the Braves a 3-2 victory and a sweep of the Mets, sending the team 12 and a half games back of its rival ahead of the All-Star Break.
Piazza screamed at Hernández in a fit of rage, throwing the baseball to the ground as the umpire attempted to dodge a furious Mets roster while walking off the field.
”Anyone who wants to look at the replay or anyone who saw it live knows what happened,” said an irate Mets manager Bobby Valentine.
”All I know is I’ve got more wounds on a catcher that was already wounded up — marks five inches deep on his leg — and another game that we lost. That’s all I know. And it’s a joke.”
”That was the most ridiculous call I’ve ever seen in my 10 years of pro baseball, in my 20 years of baseball, period,” a battered Piazza said. “It was just beyond belief. I’m completely flabbergasted.”
A Home Run Denied
Most of the time, bad umpiring decisions are limited to plays when the ball stays in the park — but even Hernández was able to find a way on this one.
During a 2013 game between the A’s and Indians in the ninth inning, Oakland infielder Adam Rosales thought he had launched a game-tying home run before Hernández had something to say about it.
Though Rosales’ shot to left field looked as though it clearly landed higher than the top of the wall, the umpire ruled that the ball stayed in the park, resulting in an A’s loss.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin was furious, and his argument with Hernández resulted in an ejection.
The MLB Network analysts were just as upset as Melvin, saying that there “must be accountability for this.”
Of course, Hernández’s legendary poor calls live on with no punishment levied.
The Double Play That Should Never Have Been
In 2013, Hernández proved he could make an impact all across the field — by blowing a call at first base, too.
During a 3-3 game in the 10th inning between the White Sox and the Marlins, the umpire ruled that the Marlins had completed a double play against Chicago, even though Alex Rios had clearly beaten out the throw.
“No! No! No!” Hawk Harrelson, the White Sox announcer, cried as the visiting players quickly ran off the field.
“And another blown call by Hernández,” another White Sox commentator exclaimed.
Ultimately, Hernández’s call was for naught: the White Sox would still go on to win in the 11th inning, but this one was hardly close.
A Bear-Sized Mistake
During a wild Aug. 2001 game that pitted the Cubs against the Rockies, Hernández called Cubs third baseman Ron Coomer out at home plate, sparking outrage across the entire stadium, which included one particularly high-profile fan.
Former Bears defensive tackle Steve “Mongo” McMichael was at Wrigley Field to serve as the guest conductor for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and he took the chance to put the umpiring on blast.
“All right, Mongo’s home Chicago! And don’t worry; I’ll have to speak to that home plate umpire after the game,” McMichael said.
Hernández glared back up at McMichael and appeared furious, prompting some fans to believe he ejected the Bears legend — a theory the umpire later shot down.
The Cubs ended up winning the game in a wild botched rundown that included ex-Yankee manager Joe Girardi.
Called Out Again
It’s never good when your performance grades out as the worst in the league, but for Hernández, this was just another workday.
During an April 2021 game between the Angels and Astros, Umpire Auditor tabbed Hernández as the owner of the worst-called game all year, highlighted by a couple of dreadful calls to Alex Bregman and Martin Maldonado.
Angel Goes International
It turns out Hernández’s antics know no borders.
In a March 2023 World Baseball Classic game between Venezuela and Nicaragua, the veteran umpire surprised even the most hardened of baseball fans with his horrendous calls.
“Angel Hernandez, my goodness,” Todd Frazier wrote.
At least he was consistently inconsistent.
Hernández Won’t Leave a Call
This last offense isn’t a call in the typical sense you would expect for a baseball umpire.
After a July 2019 game between the Rays and Red Sox when Hernández was serving as crew chief and the Rays illegally moved pitcher Adam Kolarek to first base, MLB conducted an internal investigation about the game, which was delayed 14 minutes due to confusion over the rules.
During that investigation, Hernández was interviewed about his role during the game, but he reportedly stayed on the call after his interview to eavesdrop on the review of another MLB umpire, Ed Hickox, per The Athletic.
Torre blasted Hernández for his inexplicable actions.
“You acknowledged that you were aware prior to the calls that they were intended to be separate and did not dispute that you remained on the line. Instead, you offered a number of excuses for why you remained on the line,” Torre wrote in an MLB letter.
It’s not just close calls at home plate, first base, or second base that the threat of Hernández haunts — it’s phone calls too.
