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Angel Hernandez’s Worst Calls Resurface With News Of His Pending Retirement Announcement

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Umpire Angel Hernandez on the field.

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Angel Hernandez is set to retire this week, according to MLB reporter Bob Nightengale. The umpire known by many as the worst in the game will make a public announcement on Tuesday.

Following that major newsbreak, some of Hernandez’s worst calls are now resurfacing. Major League Baseball fans are reliving the moments that made him most popular in celebration of his soon-to-be departure!

Hernandez has made continuous headlines over the years due to both his inconsistencies behind the plate, as well as his egregious misses in the strike zone.

Last season, he was rated as the worst blue in the league. This year’s start hasn’t been much better!

While players have long hated playing in games in which he’s a part of the crew, the MLB has allowed him to continue working games at a high level. That might’ve had something to do with a racial discrimination suit filed against the league suggesting they were wrongfully keeping him from World Series assignments.

Evidence would seem to confirm that those decisions were not racially motivated…

After three decades in the MLB, it seems the league finally reached its breaking point this spring.

“There has to be a line where you tell the umpires, ‘Enough is enough.’ We cannot stand this anymore… I would think there’s enough evidence here, we’ve all seen it over the years, to think that Angel Hernandez probably doesn’t belong anymore.”

– Ken Rosenthal, MLB writer

Less than a month after Rosenthal made those insinuations, Hernandez’s retirement now appears imminent.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale broke the news on Monday, saying the official announcement would come Tuesday.

Ángel Hernández, the polarizing veteran umpire who has drawn the wrath and exasperation from players, managers and fans alike over three decades, is retiring Tuesday from Major League Baseball, a high-ranking baseball official told USA TODAY Sports.

MLB and Hernández had spent the past two weeks negotiating a financial settlement before reaching a resolution over the weekend.

Hernández, 62, worked his last game May 9 as the home-plate umpire in the Chicago White Sox’s 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field and never came back, replaced on the crew by Jacob Metz.

Angel Hernandez’s worst calls resurface!

Social media users have done their job in digging up old clips of the umpire failing miserably behind the plate. He provided some truly unforgettable moments!

You have to start with Kyle Schwarber’s explosion at home plate following a strike three call on a pitch outside the zone. His reaction landed him a swift exit from the contest.

Schwarber’s teammate, Bryce Harper, had a similar exchange with the blue, albeit not while he was behind the dish.

Then, there was an instance in a Gleyber Torres at-bat in which Hernandez not only whiffed on a ball/strike call, but completely missed the pitcher stepping off the rubber mid-delivery.

Incredible.

How about this three-pitch masterclass during a Rangers-Astros game? At least he was consistent in this particular scenario!

No one could turn a hit batsman into a strikeout victim in quite the same fashion. He was one of a kind!

There are so many more to choose from, and thankfully, this Jomboy Media thread highlights a number of other moments (full breakdowns included) for your viewing pleasure.

Angel Hernandez’s retirement truly is the end of an era.