If there is a Major League Baseball umpire that most fans can universally agree they don’t like or think is very good at their job, it’s Ángel Hernández.
The long-maligned umpire who seems to draw the ire of MLB fans, players, managers, and broadcasters every time he calls a game is calling it quits.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported the news. A source told Nightengale that an official announcement is coming Tuesday.
He also reports that MLB and Hernández had spent the past two weeks negotiating a financial settlement that would end his time behind the plate, presumably prematurely.
The 62-year-old last worked an MLB game on May 9 as the home-plate umpire in the Chicago White Sox’s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians. He was replaced on that crew by Jacob Metz and hasn’t returned to the field.
Hernández’s history of bad calls couldn’t possibly be fully encapsulated but here’s a sampling of just some of the many terrible calls he made over the years.
The news was met with overwhelming excitement and joy from those around the baseball world who were thrilled to know they’d never have to get mad at one of his calls again. There were also quite a few uses of the same joke to show appreciation for his history of questionable calls.
Dang you people hate you some Angel Hernandez #YouPeople
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) May 28, 2024
It's amazing he got to keep his job for this long. https://t.co/GjzMA34ovL
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) May 28, 2024
If you’re in line to make an “Angel Hernandez finally made the right call” joke, stay in line, twitter will stay open until everyone gets to make that joke
— kat (@HelenRuthsGhost) May 28, 2024
Congrats to Ángel Hernández for making the one call everyone else can agree was a good one.