New York (AFP) – Baseball umpire Angel Hernandez has abruptly retired from the sport, ending a 33-year career studded with controversy that often saw him infuriate coaches, players and fans alike.
Cuba-born Hernandez, 62, confirmed his retirement in a statement released through Major League Baseball.
“Starting with my first Major League game in 1991, I have had the very good experience of living out my childhood dream of umpiring in the Major Leagues,” Hernandez said in the statement. “There is nothing better than working at a profession that you enjoy. I treasured the camaraderie of my colleagues and the friendships I have made along the way, including our locker room attendants in all the various cities. I have decided that I want to spend more time with my family.”
Hernandez frequently found himself in the crosshairs of baseball players and fans given a long record of questionable calls.
This season he angered Texas Rangers fans after making a series of dubious calls at the plate against rookie hitter Wyatt Langford last month. After calling a strike on a pitch which sailed well wide of the plate, an exasperated commentator remarked: “You have got to be kidding me. What in the world?” It was the latest entry into an extensive catalogue of calls that were often hard to fathom.
Last season, Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper slammed Hernandez after being ruled out on a questionable checked swing. An incensed Harper argued against the call and was tossed. “It’s Angel in the middle of something again,” Harper fumed after the game. “It’s just, every year, it’s the same story. The same thing over and over and over and over again. It’s just not right.”
Harper’s fury was matched by New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia following a playoff defeat to the Boston Red Sox in 2018. Sabathia branded Hernandez “absolutely terrible” and said the official “shouldn’t be anywhere near a playoff game.”
US media reports said Tuesday that Hernandez had negotiated a settlement from Major League Baseball to secure his departure from the sport.
Hernandez had a tense relationship with the league in recent years, suing Major League Baseball in 2017 for racial discrimination claiming he had been excluded from officiating at the World Series because he was Cuban, even though he umpired both the 2002 and 2005 Fall Classics. A federal judge later dismissed his case, accusing Hernandez of providing a “handful of cherry-picked examples”. Hernandez’s appeal against that decision was dismissed last year.
However, at least one member of the baseball community saluted Hernandez upon his retirement, the irreverent fan Twitter account Umpire Auditor, which exists to showcase “the worst calls of the day, every day.” “From the bottom of my heart, thank you Angel Hernandez,” the account said in a post. “You gave me more content than I could have possibly dreamed of. I didn’t deserve you. Enjoy your retirement, king.”
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