End of An Era For Baseball

Officiating a sport is a very tough thing to do, no matter the sport. If you get lucky enough, you can make it all the way to the pro level as the person controlling the action. If you make a name for yourself, that says a lot about what you've done at your job. More often than not that's a good thing. Unless your name is Angel Hernandez, then you get ripped.

Angel has been an umpire in Major League Baseball now since 1991. He worked from 1991 to 1999 strictly for the National League. Ever since 2000, Angel has worked in both leagues. And after all this time, Angel has called it a career and retired.

To which most players and fans all say the same thing. THANK GOD!

I will say this much for Angel. If he had been able to stay in Baseball  for thirty three years as a Major League Umpire, he must have done something right. To have that kind of longevity, you have to be somewhat good at what your doing. There have been some good Umpires over the years who's names you know. Jim Joyce (outside of blowing the Galaraga perfect game call), Durwood Merril, Greg Gibson, Bill Kelm, Cal Hubbaard all come to mind. Hernandez does too, but not for the same reasons.

More often than not, when people say the name Angel Hernandez, its usually met with some kind of disgust. From both fans and players alike. What Angel was known for was his horrible calls. Whether it was out on the field or badly missing balls and strikes behind home plate. It was all the same. Many around the game considered him one of the worst to ever do it.

To be fair, Angel was never actually considered the worst MLB umpire, according to MLB's statistical studies and reports. The court of public opinion however, which does include players and fans alike, begs to differ. To many, nobody missed more calls behind home plate than he did.

So Angel can now ride off into the sunset and into retirement.