Cuban-born MLB Umpire Angel Hernandez has filed a lawsuit against MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred alleging that the league has discriminated against minority umpires specifically him by holding him back from promotions and not allowing him to umpire a World Series game.
Things changed starting with the 2011 season. That year—Torre’s first as a member of MLB’s front office—Hernandez failed to receive a single “exceeds standards” grade on any of the review criteria. His review from that season also included a critical remark that, since then, has repeatedly shown up on his reviews in the Torre era. As the first mid-season review in 2011 put it, per the lawsuit:
You need to work on your communication skills with on-field personnel, particularly because your approach has fostered a Club perception that you try to put yourself in the spotlight by seeing things that other umpires do not.
All of Joe Torre’s criticisms are completely accurate and quite fair here. Hernandez is failing to realize that he’s simply terrible at his job. One of the absolute worst umpires in the league actually. While I completely agree the league should do more to hire a more diverse cast of officials (Hell, I’m sure we could come up with a list of about 8 umpires that could easily be replaced), Hernandez’s claims here ring a little hallow since he would be one of the first to go.
Remember that time in Cleveland when Hernandez blew a crucial home-run call, watched it on replay and then managed to magically blow it a second time? And then to add insult to injury he decided to toss out anyone who dare object?
Remember that time when Hernandez ejected Bears defensive end Steve McMichael from a game before he sung “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”?
Or how he’s consistently ranked as one of the worst umpires in baseball?
He is among the most vilified umpires in the major leagues. … Looking at his annual plate-calling numbers, it’s easy to see why critics contend that Hernandez has an inconsistent strike zone. … His K/9 was consistently below average [from 2007-2009], but then shot up in 2010. Hernandez’s R/9 has also jumped around.
If you don’t’ believe me, just ask Ron Washington:
Angel is just bad. That’s all there is to it.
Let’s check in with Chipper Jones…
And let us not forget that Angel Hernandez and Joe West once served on the same crew….
Fan Interference 
News Flash! News Flash! Angel, you’re not being discriminated against because you’re Hispanic. It’s because you’re a horrible umpire and save the umpires’ union, you would have been fired a long time ago.
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Hah! Angel Hernandez, Joe Torre was absolutely right! Cubans are nothing but a bunch of wannabe Italians! If they had been real Italians, they would have whacked Fidel decades ago! There was a good reason why Hyman Roth gave up on building casinos in Havana. He couldn’t find anyone who could count markers in Old Sicilian! You want to see what real discrimination looks like? Come to Macondo, where Cubans are now being put back in their modified pickup trucks, rafts and inner tubes and floated out into the Gulf Stream in hopes they’ll get spirited orf to where they came from! Wet foot, dry foot, athlete’s foot! Does it itch? Well stop taking it out on major league hitters and piss on your toes instead! And don’t come back here until you add some green vegetables to your cuisine! What’s more, no one will hire a Cuban here, not even to make pizza. Just ask Frankie Five Angels!
So stop whining and go learn braille. It’s obvious you can’t see anything for shit anyway!
Oh, and Chipper Jones – stop bullying your inferiors and get back to chasing gurrls! Steve Garvey is still wa-a-a-ayyyy ahead of you!
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“Angel hernandez and Joe West once served on the same crew”….
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That’s going to be one tough discrimination suit. I imagine the MLB has a boxcar loaded with videos of his calls.
He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get capital punishment! In a civil trial!
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If the judge turned on Oscar Wilde, he can turn on Angel Hernandez.
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Much like Oscar Wilde, I suspect Angel will supply the rope with which they hang him.
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“Give me the luxuries of life. I’ll do without the necessities.”
– Oscar Wilde
He became my hero forever with that line….
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