ARLINGTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 06: Umpire Angel Hernandez #5 looks on from first base during Game One of the National League Divisional Series between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field on October 06, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MLB umpire Angel Hernandez took part in yet another mind-boggling decision Tuesday night.
MLB is a bizarre sport where those enforcing the rules, the umpires, often carry reputations as being terrible at their jobs. No conversation of the sort can take place without mentioning Angel Hernandez.
His crew is in Kansas City this week as the Royals take on the Cleveland Indians. It only took about an hour before his name was trending on Twitter. So what happened this time?
Angel Hernandez and his crew are at it again
This one is new for sure. Indians outfielder Harold Ramirez appeared to drop the ball and Josh Naylor whipped it in to the infield. The umpires appeared to stand and say nothing, leaving Andrew Benintendi in no man’s land at second base.
Benintendi was tagged out, but the umpires got together to make their call and said it was officially a hit. They then gave Benintendi third base due to the lack of call. Huh?
Further review revealed one umpire made an out call, but Benintendi saw the play as a hit and was assuming he had to get back to second base. But he was still tagged out. So how did he get third base?
Both teams have a right to be upset in this scenario. Umpires cannot just stand around and stare at each other. And also, wrong calls can’t be casually made like it is little league. Then there is the issue of just placing runners anywhere based on a judgment call.
Hernandez even followed it up later on with another blown call at first base. Jose Ramirez was clearly safe, but Hernandez thought otherwise. Luckily, replay solved this issue in a matter of moments.
The kicker here is that Hernandez will be behind the plate Wednesday with Shane Bieber on the mound for the Indians. Expect his name to be trending once again as the MLB world wonders how he maintains such impressive job security.