While baseball has had a bit of a larger microscope on terrible calls from umpires lately, one person might stand tall above the rest.
That man is long-time umpire Angel Hernandez. He’s a person many MLB fans know by name, which obviously isn’t a good thing for an official rules keeper. During the Rays and Pirates’ (+1.5) matchup on Saturday afternoon, Hernandez’s inexplicable decision-making showed up in the worst possible way once again.
Let’s take it to the bottom of the third inning. Tampa Bay’s Brett Phillips hit a routine grounder up to second. While hustling down the first-base line, Phillips was thrown out with little issue.
But, for some reason, according to Hernandez, he was safe:
Angel Hernandez calling this safe is… something pic.twitter.com/WJZnwEdjvy
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 25, 2022
Uh, am I missing something? Because that throw and catch beat Phillips to the bag by several feet. Truly: what are we even doing here, Mr. Hernandez?
Fortunately for the Pirates — who challenged the play — an instant replay confirmed that Phillips didn’t make it safely to first, and the call was reversed. Pittsburgh would go on to lose 6-5.
Under normal circumstances, you’d accept the human element and understand that people miss calls sometimes. But this is an extended pattern for Hernandez over the years. He alone might make an excellent argument for a transition to robot umpires.
While the Pirates, fortunately, weren’t hurt by it, MLB fans were astounded by Hernandez’s latest blunder.
