Umpires & the Angel Hernandez lawsuit

Murby

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Mar 16, 2006
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MakeMineMoxie

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I feel like this issue isn't getting enough attention.

Last week, Manny Machado was suspended for throwing his bat at the backstop, and the umpire's union unleashed about it from their Twitter (and later Facebook) page.

https://thebiglead.com/2019/06/18/umpires-union-tweet-manny-machado/
I think umpires are completely out of control. Bring on the robots.
It's pretty apparent that MLB has little or no control over its umpires. Do they really expect us to believe that they review and grade umps on their performance?
 

Ale Xander

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Oct 31, 2013
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Will today's game (20+ minute delay to incorrectly apply batting rules) have any effect on his job? Is MLB still scared of the lawsuit? It's been pretty clear for many years that he's not cut out for this, certainly not at crew chief.
 

steveluck7

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Applying it correctly or incorrectly... still no excuse for him to be that confused at the moment. This isn't the first time Cash has done this this year so it's not THAT unique of a situation.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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I hope this means they eventually kick him to the curb. It’s bad enough that he’s easily the worst umpire in the game, he’s also arrogant as hell on the field.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Dec 19, 2009
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I hope this means they eventually kick him to the curb. It’s bad enough that he’s easily the worst umpire in the game, he’s also arrogant as hell on the field.
They'll only do it if they have someone to fill his spot. I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that the crop of good young umpires is not exactly flush and hasn't been for awhile. Nobody wants to be the guy who gets screamed at, gets death threats, and not even a single nod of appreciation when a good job is done. Some of the younger umps that have been coming up have been very reactive and have itchy trigger-fingers now that they're in the big time.
 

Senator Donut

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Will today's game (20+ minute delay to incorrectly apply batting rules) have any effect on his job? Is MLB still scared of the lawsuit? It's been pretty clear for many years that he's not cut out for this, certainly not at crew chief.
Yes! Not only did MLB determine Hernandez got the call wrong, he also eavesdropped on a private conversation with another umpire regarding that game.

https://theathletic.com/1859504/2020/06/08/mlb-claims-that-umpire-angel-hernandez-eavesdropped-on-an-investigation/
The legal filing also noted the following incidents:
  • Acting as an interim crew chief in 2012, Hernandez violated MLB rules by asking Homer Bailey, who had pitched a no-hitter, to autograph 11 baseballs for himself and the crew.
  • Having three calls overturned by replay in the first four innings of a 2018 playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox.
  • Torre testified he observed Hernandez in another game throwing his headset after having his call overturned on instant replay.
  • Allegedly refusing to change his mind on a replay decision from a 2013 Cleveland game. Torre writes that the umpire still insists during his annual reviews that his call upholding a double high off the wall, rather than a home run, was solid. (Hernandez in his April motion explained: “the screen on which umpires reviewed replay at the time was small and was not in high definition.” Replays in 2013 were handled locally by the onsite umpires.)
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

critical thinker
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His lawyer is saying it's in response to his discrimination lawsuit. Whether it is or it isn't, if true, he should be fired immediately.
 

Zoidberg

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Angel took the "L".

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-umpire-angel-hernandez-racial-discrimination-suit-220417290.html

notably,

Federal judge J. Paul Oetken reportedly granted MLB's motion for a summary judgement on Wednesday, writing that "no reasonable juror could find that MLB’s stated explanation is a pretext for discriminatory motive.”

and

"Oetken said MLB made a compelling case that Torre had reason to believe Hernandez simply isn't good enough at his job to deserve a promotion."
 

joe dokes

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Angel took the "L".
https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-umpire-angel-hernandez-racial-discrimination-suit-220417290.html
notably,
Federal judge J. Paul Oetken reportedly granted MLB's motion for a summary judgement on Wednesday, writing that "no reasonable juror could find that MLB’s stated explanation is a pretext for discriminatory motive.”
and
"Oetken said MLB made a compelling case that Torre had reason to believe Hernandez simply isn't good enough at his job to deserve a promotion."


Here's the opinion granting summary judgment:
 

Attachments

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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Angel took the "L".

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-umpire-angel-hernandez-racial-discrimination-suit-220417290.html

notably,

Federal judge J. Paul Oetken reportedly granted MLB's motion for a summary judgement on Wednesday, writing that "no reasonable juror could find that MLB’s stated explanation is a pretext for discriminatory motive.”

and

"Oetken said MLB made a compelling case that Torre had reason to believe Hernandez simply isn't good enough at his job to deserve a promotion."


Yet another bad call by Angel Hernandez.
 

joe dokes

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After reading the Order, Torre does not come off well, as he has trouble consistently articulating just what goes into World series assignments.

I'm also not really convinced that summary judgment was appropriate here (at least based on the 4 corners of the order). I thought there was enough (barely) to get to a jury on the pretext/discrimination angle. SJ on employment cases gets a bit deep into he legal/procedural weeds, but I'd be curious what other lawyers think of the ruling. (I'm not disputing what we all know -- that Hernandez is a pretty lousy umpire. But either MLB didn't make that case forcefully enough, it doesn't have the documentary record to support it more than it did, or the Order tried to tread lightly on his ineptitude).
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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They could have save a lot of words and just said "We find that Mr. Hernandez, in all facets of umpiring, sucks and is lucky to even be employed by Major League Baseball."
 

santadevil

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I see your points. Just seemed fresh since it was from the same series as the botched out call he made

The mess up on the foul ball vs. hit batter seemed to unwind the Royals a bit and put them off their game. That's on them though, not Angel. That call gets missed by umps once in a while
 

The Raccoon

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Well, this incident with Ángel in the main role (and good old Bennitendi as the confused base runner) happened only a couple days ago, so I can see why KC may be pissed about AH.
Than again, there are 29 other franchises/fanbases in the MLB who are pissed about him, so... what's new?
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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The problem is Angel Hernandez is incompetent and has no credibility. Every night he's out there the players are just waiting for him to do something stupid because of his long history of being awful. So when he makes close calls, even when they're right, everyone assumes he blew it and they're the latest victim. He isn't capable of doing the job and shouldn't be out there. He's a disgrace to the sport and shouldn't be out there.
 

jon abbey

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The problem is Angel Hernandez is incompetent and has no credibility. Every night he's out there the players are just waiting for him to do something stupid because of his long history of being awful. So when he makes close calls, even when they're right, everyone assumes he blew it and they're the latest victim. He isn't capable of doing the job and shouldn't be out there. He's a disgrace to the sport and shouldn't be out there.
Thank you, this is almost exactly what I wanted to say but didn't get around to.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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He should be fired for how badly he botched the play from the previous night. He stopped a live play because he realized he'd made the wrong call and then compounded it by arbitrarily deciding where everyone should be. He could have at least let it play out and then used replay to sort out his mess, but that was impossible after he turned an incorrect call into a judgment play.

However, everything about that benefitted the Royals and left the Indians with no recourse. Fortunately, KC blew the rally and Hernandez's double mistake didn't affect the score, but Kansas City had no excuse to be upset with him then or the next night.

The three ejections were completely justified (at least I'm assuming Matheny used some "magic words", Eldred and Singer were completely out of control). Was Ramirez hit by the pitch? I don't know, but it was an understandable call and it was upheld by replay. Accept it and move on. The balk that came a couple of at-bats later was blatant. It's often a difficult infraction to see, but that wasn't the case. I saw it live and the Indians broadcast team called it out before Hernandez did. The way the Royals reacted was completely out of line, but as others have pointed out, Hernandez has made himself a lightning rod and is a constant distraction even when he does thing correctly.