Notable games

Hernández was behind the plate for the final game at the original Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. He was umpiring at third base when Jered Weaver threw a no-hitter on May 2, 2012,^[21] and was also the third-base umpire on September 28, 2012, when Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[22] On May 18, 2021, Hernandez was the home plate umpire for Spencer Turnbull's no hitter against the Seattle Mariners, the only time that he has been the home plate umpire for a no-hitter.

Incidents

In 1998, Hernández was behind the plate for a game between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves the day before the All-Star break. In the 11th inning, Braves runner Michael Tucker tagged up on a fly ball to left. Hernández ruled Tucker safe, but replays showed the throw to catcher Mike Piazza beat Tucker, and that Tucker had never touched home plate. After the game, Piazza said the call was the worst he had ever seen in his baseball career. Other Mets opined that Hernández may have been in a hurry to get the game over with so they could all start their break.^[23]

On August 7, 2001, Hernández was the home plate umpire for a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Hernández controversially called Cubs infielder Ron Coomer out at the plate. Former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael, who was visiting the Cubs television booth and who was the guest singer for Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch, told those in attendance over the PA system that he would "have some speaks" with Hernández after the game, presumably because of Hernández's call against Coomer. A visibly angry Hernández was shown on camera glaring at McMichael from the field. McMichael was subsequently ejected from the ballpark; it was initially thought that Hernández had ordered the ejection. It later emerged that crew chief Randy Marsh had ordered the ejection, threatening to stop the game unless McMichael was removed from the ballpark. Later, the umpires received an apology from then-Cubs general manager Andy MacPhail for McMichael's conduct.^[24]

Hernández in 2007

On July 17, 2006, when Hernández served as the third-base umpire for a game between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, he ejected Dodgers' first-base coach Mariano Duncan. When Duncan came out of the dugout to argue the ejection, he tossed his cap to the ground in anger. After Duncan was removed from the field, 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.^[25] Duncan was suspended for two games and fined by Major League Baseball as a result of the incident.^[26]

On May 8, 2013, Hernández served as the crew chief for a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Cleveland Indians. In the ninth inning, he and two other umpires ruled a long hit by the Athletics' Adam Rosales was a double following a video review,^[27][3] although the ball hit a railing above the top of the wall. Oakland's manager Bob Melvin argued the call and Hernández ejected him. The Athletics lost the game 4–3.^[28] MLB later acknowledged that the hit should have been called a home run but said that it was too late to overturn it.^[29][30] Several umpires argued that the replay system did not provide clear enough pictures and the system was later changed.^[3]

In August 2017, Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined $10,000 by MLB for saying that Hernández was a bad umpire who "needs to find another job."^[31]

On October 8, 2018, Hernández was the first-base umpire for Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series between the Yankees and Red Sox. Four out of five plays that he called at first base which were submitted for video review were overturned.^[13] TBS analyst and Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez said after the game: "Angel was horrible. Don't get me going on Angel now. Major League Baseball needs to do something about Angel. It doesn't matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball. He's as bad as there is."^[32] Pitcher CC Sabathia said: "I don’t understand why he’s doing these games....He’s always bad. He’s a bad umpire."^[33] Hernández declined to comment after the game, a blowout win for the Red Sox, but MLB issued a statement through a spokesperson: "There were several very close calls at first base tonight and we are glad that instant replay allowed the umpiring crew to achieve the proper result on all of them."^[13]

MLB removed Hernández as acting crew chief after accusing him of eavesdropping on an MLB investigative call in July 2019, which focused on Hernández's 20-minute game delay due to umpire confusion over league rules.^[17][34] Hernández did not hang up his phone when his interview ended, and instead continued listening to the subsequent questioning of another umpire that he knew was intended to be separate. Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, wrote him: "Simply put, we find your asserted justifications for remaining on the line to be implausible, internally inconsistent, premised on facts that are incorrect and not credible.... we have concluded that you remained on the line in an effort to intentionally and deceptively eavesdrop on a confidential conversation in order to hear what [umpire] Hickox would say... This is an egregious offense." Hernández was also chastised for asking pitcher Homer Bailey for 11 autographed baseballs after Bailey's no-hitter, for making three incorrect calls that were later overturned on the basis of video replay in the first four innings of Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS, and for angrily throwing his headset during a different game when his call was overturned by replay.^[35]

Lawsuit

In July 2017, Hernández filed a federal lawsuit against MLB, alleging that racial discrimination led to his being overlooked for World Series games and crew chief promotions.^[3] He also cited a longstanding feud with Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, dating back to Torre's managerial career.^[36] Hernández asserted that before Torre's arrival in 2011, Hernández's evaluations were consistently positive, but since then evaluations had turned neutral or negative.^[37] Nearly a week after he filed the suit, Hernández was named to the 2017 All-Star Game;^[38] he was also selected as first-base umpire for the 2017 and 2018 American League Division Series.^[39][13] In September 2018, the case was moved from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, where Major League Baseball is headquartered.^[13][40]

In March 2021, United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken granted a summary judgment in MLB's favor, writing, "The court concludes that no reasonable juror could find that MLB's stated explanation is a pretext for discriminatory motive," and "The evidence shows beyond genuine dispute that an umpire's leadership and situation management carried the day in MLB's promotion decisions."^[41][42]