Ángel Hernández (umpire)

Umpiring career

Hernández has umpired in the World Series in 2002 and 2005, as well as the All-Star Game in 1999 and 2009. He has officiated in seven League Championship Series (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2016), and in eight League Division Series (1997, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015). Hernandez also worked Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS as an injury fill-in for Derryl Cousins. Hernández wears the uniform number 55 (He wore number 5 while in the National League, but the number was taken by Dale Scott when the umpires were consolidated under MLB in 2000).

Controversies

In a 1999 Major League Baseball Players Association survey, Hernández was ranked 31st out of 36 National League umpires. However, later that year, Hernández was asked to return for the 2000 season while 13 of his NL colleagues were let go. Given his ranking, the Philadelphia Inquirer termed the retention of Hernández one of the "surprises" of the 1999 purge.

Hernández has been involved in several incidents with players. On August 7, 2001, he ejected a guest singer of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field. The ejectee was former Chicago Bears player Steve McMichael, who had taken a shot at Hernandez's umpiring over the PA system after being introduced as the guest singer.

On July 17, 2006, Hernández was the third base umpire and ejected Dodgers' first base coach Mariano Duncan. When Duncan came out of the dugout to argue the ejection, he tossed his cap onto the ground in anger. Immediately after his peers brought Duncan back into the dugout, Hernández picked up the cap and tossed it to a fan in the stands. The next day, Duncan taped his cap to his head before delivering the Dodgers' lineup to the umpires.

A 2006 Sports Illustrated poll of Major League players listed Hernandez as the third worst umpire in MLB.

Hernández has had multiple confrontations with infielder Julio Lugo. In April 2007, Lugo attempted to call timeout and stepped out of the batter's box as the pitcher went into his windup, and Hernández called the resulting pitch a strike. This began an argument between Lugo and Hernández, but did not result in any ejection. On May 27, 2008, Lugo was among multiple Red Sox who asked for a check swing ruling from Hernández, though as the third base umpire, he was unable to provide a ruling unless requested by the home plate umpire. A confrontation ensued, resulting in Lugo's ejection from the game. Hernández subsequently ejected Red Sox manager Terry Francona when the latter came out to argue Lugo's ejection.

For the second half of the 2011 baseball season, Hernández was moved from the umpiring crew of Joe West to the crew of Gerry Davis.

On May 8, 2013, Hernández served as the crew chief when regular crew chief Dana DeMuth was not with the umpiring crew for a series in Cleveland between the Oakland Athletics and the Cleveland Indians. In the ninth inning, Athletics' second baseman Adam Rosales hit a ball over the yellow home run line in left center field. The initial ruling was that it stayed in play. After video review, Hernández ruled it a double. Video replays clearly showed the ball hitting a railing in the bleachers above the yellow line, which serves as a divider between home runs and balls still in play. A's manager Bob Melvin argued the call and Hernández ejected him from the game. The call cost the Athletics the game; they lost to the Cleveland Indians, 4-3. Athletics players, fans, and sports columnists criticized Hernández in the wake of the call. Major League Baseball later acknowledged that the call was "improper," but that it was too late to overturn it.

Notable games

Hernández was behind the plate for the final game at the old Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. He was umpiring at third base when Jered Weaver threw a no-hitter on May 2, 2012., and Hernández was the third base umpire on September 28, 2012, when Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates.