MLB just delivered a massive blow to Ángel Hernández’s racism case that has been ongoing since 2021.
Hernández, a veteran umpire, had based his lawsuit on the premise that the MLB was being racially discriminatory against him for not allowing him to officiate in the World Series, but the league’s statement shows that he was not allowed because he was just awful at his job.
Chief baseball officer Joe Torre said that Hernández was chosen to officiate in the 2018 American League Division Series (ALDS) between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, which was the first step in him getting the chance to officiate in the World Series that year. However, his performance in that series was anything but spectacular.
In Game 3 of that series, Hernández made three calls – all of them at first base – that were overturned after video review. Three missed calls at first over a month-long period is no big deal, but three (rather obvious) calls at first in a playoff game is egregiously bad for someone that wants the chance to make calls in the Fall Classic.
“Hernandez did not capitalize on that opportunity and did not rise to the occasion,” MLB wrote. “This was the first time since the advent of expanded instant replay in 2014 that an umpire had three calls overturned in a postseason game. Based on his performance during that Division Series playoff game, Torre was not confident in Hernandez’s ability to perform effectively on an even more intense stage, and for this reason did not select him for the World Series that season.”
MLB further stated in its court filing on Wednesday that Hernandez’s argument that his race was somehow involved in that decision was incredibly thin and had no solid foundation.
“Hernandez has not presented, and the record does not contain, a scintilla of evidence that MLB’s actions were based on his race or national origin,” the MLB wrote in their 58-page filing.
Sounds like Hernández needs to give up the ghost on this one and focus on perfecting his craft a little more.
Reporting by MRCTV.
