MLB ump Ángel Hernández retiring after 3 decades
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
MLB umpire Ángel Hernández is retiring effective immediately, ending a controversial three-decade-long career that in recent years turned Hernández into a source of consternation with players and a punching bag among fans on social media.
The 62-year-old Hernández, who in a statement confirmed earlier reports he would be retiring, reached a settlement to leave Major League Baseball, according to a source, and will leave after umpiring thousands of games since his debut in 1991.
Hernández, who worked his last game May 9 and was replaced on Lance Barksdale’s crew by Jacob Metz, sued MLB in 2017, alleging the league had engaged in racial discrimination. The lawsuit was thrown out by a district court judge, a decision upheld by an appeals court last year.
With a penchant for bad calls — during a 2018 playoff game, he had three calls reversed by replay in the first four innings — Hernández received a disproportionate amount of odium from fans. The lawsuit only added to the animus Hernández generated, and the groundswell grew to the point that Hernández retired after missing much of the 2023 season with a back injury.
Hernandez is well-liked among umpires, who have borne the brunt of more criticism in recent years and rallied around him as a person. His on-field work, however, left enough to be desired that Hernández became a constant trending topic on social media platforms and among the most maligned figures in the game.
Just this season, Hernández called three strikes on pitches well off the plate from Houston‘s J.P. France to Texas‘ Wyatt Langford. In 2022, Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber was ejected by Hernández after he slammed his bat following a called strike three on a Josh Hader fastball that was off the plate.
Other Hernández mishaps predated the league’s institution of instant replay, including an incident in which Chicago Bears great Steve McMichael was ejected from Wrigley Field after criticizing Hernández over the stadium’s loudspeaker during the seventh-inning stretch.
Particularly after the retirement of Joe West before the 2022 season, Hernández became the face of umpiring — a job that has taken on increased importance with umpires relied upon to implement pace-of-game measures, including the pitch clock. Ball-and-strike umpiring, which became front and center in the criticism of Hernández, could soon be assisted — or altogether taken over — by the use of MLB’s automated ball-strike system, which is currently utilized in the minor leagues but won’t be in the big leagues until at earliest 2026.
The grading system of umpires is intentionally opaque, though commissioner Rob Manfred at last week’s owner’s meetings stood up for the league’s work with umpires.
“There is, in fact, a really detailed evaluation system,” Manfred said, according to The Athletic. “They get evaluated twice a year, in mid-season, and at the end of the season. There are monetary ramifications to those evaluations in terms of what they get in terms of postseason assignments, which is a big part of — a big increment to what they earn. And there are, in fact, mandatory remedial activities that are more frequently than people realize imposed on umpires.
“Having said that, I think that the management of umpires is … a physically demanding job. It goes beyond just the evaluation, training and discipline. It also goes to things like thinking about their career path, how long should they be out there? And that implicates things like your retirement program. I mean, there’s a lot to the management of it that I don’t think everybody fully appreciates.”
Hernández had not worked a World Series game since 2005 and last umpired a league championship series in 2016. His lack of playoff assignments, as well as no promotion to crew chief despite his tenure, served as the basis for his lawsuit against the league.
Hernández blamed league executive Joe Torre, who was in charge of umpiring and later in a declaration said Hernández had an “overly confrontational style.” The judge granted MLB a summary judgment in the case.
In his full statement, Hernández said: “Starting with my first Major League game in 1991, I have had the very good experience of living out my childhood dream of umpiring in the major leagues.
“There is nothing better than working at a profession that you enjoy. I treasured the camaraderie of my colleagues and the friendships I have made along the way, including our locker room attendants in all the various cities.
“I have decided that I want to spend more time with my family.
“Needless to say, there have been many positive changes in the game of baseball since I first entered the profession. This includes the expansion and promotion of minorities. I am proud that I was able to be an active participant in that goal while being a Major League umpire.”
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially announced his transfer to UCLA via a social media post Sunday.
“My journey at UT has come to an end,” he wrote on Instagram. “This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be.
“Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”
Iamaleava was a highly regarded recruit who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season. He was No. 1 in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings and immediately gives UCLA one of the best-known players in the sport upon his arrival. The Bruins are coming off a 5-7 debut season by coach DeShaun Foster.
Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, committed to UCLA out of high school but changed his commitment on the morning of signing day and signed with Arkansas.
Those recruitments gave both sides plenty of familiarity and the ability to potentially move quickly.
Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his first season as a starter, but in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff, he threw for more than 200 yards only twice.
Tennessee’s offense finished No. 9 in the conference in scoring with 25.0 points per game in SEC play. The Volunteers’ offense was No. 1 in rushing and No. 11 in passing in league play.
UCLA is coming off a season in which it finished No. 14 in scoring offense and No. 12 in total offense in Big Ten play.
Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. The deal would have paid him in the $10 million range altogether had he stayed four years at Tennessee.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced last week after the Volunteers’ spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings April 11. He hadn’t alerted anyone on the team and was unresponsive afterward.
Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, “There’s no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me.”
Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday with a do-not-contact tag.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.
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Kristen Shilton
The New Jersey Devils‘ injury woes may have reached alarming new heights.
Defenseman Brenden Dillon and forward Cody Glass exited during the second and third periods, respectively, in Game 1 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, a 4-1 loss for New Jersey. The Devils were also briefly without defenseman Luke Hughes, who left in the third period but was able to return.
New Jersey entered the postseason already undermanned. Top forward Jack Hughes, Luke’s brother, had season-ending shoulder surgery in March, and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is also not expected to be available in the first round.
Coach Sheldon Keefe remained optimistic though about one of the team’s latest injured bodies.
“(Dillon) was eager to get back out there,” Keefe said by way of an update. Doctors ultimately held Dillon out for “precautionary reasons.”
The veteran blueliner was taken to the ice by Carolina forward William Carrier battling in front of the Devils’ net. He remained down for several minutes before being helped off by New Jersey’s training staff.
It was a disastrous third period sequence that shortened New Jersey’s bench further. Hughes went flying into the Devils’ net after tripping over Hurricanes’ forward Andrei Svechnikov, and ran off the ice cradling his right arm. Then, Devils’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom accidentally clipped Glass with his stick while appearing to aim for Svechnikov. Glass left and did not return while Hughes finished the game.
New Jersey will have to wait and see who is available when they take on Carolina in Game 2 on Tuesday. For now, Keefe won’t let the Devils dwell on what they can’t control.
“To a man, myself included,” he said, “we’re all going to have to be better.”
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