NEW YORK –
Angel Hernandez was on track to be a 2018 World Series umpire before he was tumbled three times at first base due to video reviews in Game 3 of this year’s AL Division Series between the New York Yankees and Boston, MLB wrote in response to his last legal request.
Cuban-born Hernandez was hired as a Big League umpire in 1993 and was sued in 2017 for alleged discrimination for not having been used for the World Series since 2005 and being passed over as crew chief.
US District Judge J. Paul Oetken awarded MLB a summary judgment in March 2021, and Hernandez petitioned the US Second Circuit Court of Circuits in February to overturn Oetken’s decision.
Hernandez served as interim crew chief from 2011 to 2016 at the start of the 2020 season delayed by the pandemic and for part of the 2021 season, but was not named permanent crew chief.
“Hernandez has not produced, and the record does not contain, a shred of evidence that MLB’s actions were based on his race or national origin,” MLB wrote in a 58-page filing Wednesday.
MLB said Hernandez had no legal basis to claim that he didn’t have to show statistical discrimination because of the relatively small sample sizes involved in his case.
Kevin Murphy, Hernandez’s attorney, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
In its reply letter Wednesday, MLB wrote that Joe Torre, then Chief Baseball Officer, selected Hernandez for the 2018 Division Series “with the intention of giving him an opportunity to umpire in the World Series this year.” .
“Hernandez did not capitalize on this opportunity and was not equal to the opportunity,” MLB wrote. “This was the first time since the introduction of enhanced instant replay in 2014 that a referee overruled three calls in a postseason game. Based on his performance during that Division Series playoff game, Torre wasn’t confident in Hernandez’s ability to perform effectively on an even more intense stage and for that reason didn’t select him for this season’s World Series.
MLB also cited Hernandez’s failure to reverse a call that Oakland’s Adam Rosales had doubled and failed to clear the wall with a tied ninth-inning home run in Cleveland on May 8, 2013.
“For years, Hernandez has refused to admit that the call he made was wrong, and has instead tried to blame the quality of the playback equipment,” MLB said. “Hernandez’s inability to put the Cleveland incident behind him – and his continued insistence that others were to blame for his wrong decision – was emblematic of Torre’s unfitness for World Series engagements and a permanent crew role Chief held. The problem wasn’t the bad call itself, it was Hernandez’s reaction to his mistake.”
Citing the 2011-16 seasons, Hernandez’s attorneys told the appeals court in a June filing that “MLB manipulated Mr. Hernandez’s year-end evaluations to make his job performance appear worse than it actually was. Mr. Hernandez’s annual reports for the 2011-2016 seasons do not even come close to being an accurate summary of Mr. Hernandez’s actual performance during those seasons.”
MLB wrote Wednesday, “Hernandez was quick to fire managers, igniting tensions on the field, rather than issuing warnings that could potentially defuse those situations. Hernandez also failed to communicate with other umpires on his crew, causing confusion on the field and unnecessary game delays.”
MLB also claimed Torre watched Hernandez throw his headset after a 2014 video review overturned one of his calls and misapplied a substitution rule, leading to a 14-minute delay and protest during a game between Boston and Tampa Bay on March 24. July 2019 led.
“During this investigation, MLB concluded that Hernandez intentionally and deceptively overheard a confidential conversation with another umpire on his crew to hear what that umpire would say about the incident; and when MLB asked Hernandez about it, he lied about his behavior,” MLB wrote.
MLB also repeated a claim it made earlier in the lawsuit that Hernandez asked Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey to sign 11 baseballs after a game in which Bailey fielded a no-hitter in 2012.