MLB umpire Angel Hernandez is already drawing ire from fans originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
We could spend our time trying to come up with a fun, clever way to describe MLB umpire Angel Hernandez getting up to his usual antics, but the St. Louis Cardinals broadcast of Sunday’s spring training game against the Nationals sums it up perfectly: Angel Hernandez is in midseason form.
Hernandez has a well-known reputation among baseball players, coaches and fans as one of the worst umpires in the game. Umpires are like NFL offensive lineman in that if you know their names, it’s probably because they’re doing something wrong. And every fan knows Hernandez’s name.
This time, his gaffe came in the very first inning of the very first spring training game of the year. With new Nationals first baseman Josh Bell at the plate, Hernandez watched a pitch go right down the middle. And somehow decided that a pitch right down the middle should be called a ball.
The missed call was so egregious that the veteran umpire was trending on Twitter, mere hours into the Grapefruit League season.
What was he thinking? No one knows except him. Maybe his eyes were adjusting to the curious red vs. red uniform matchup between the two clubs. Or maybe he knew that not as many people are able to watch spring training games this year, so he could get away with it more easily than usual.
Whatever the reason, Hernandez once again made headlines for the wrong reasons.