Kinsler says umpire needs to leave game
When Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler sat at his locker inside the visiting clubhouse at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, he said exactly what he thought.
In short, Kinsler said Angel Hernandez is a bad umpire and that a career change could serve Hernandez well.
“There needs to be something done,” Kinsler said.
Kinsler, 35, was ejected in the top of the fifth inning of the Tigers’ 6-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday night for arguing balls and strikes. The pitch that drew Kinsler’s ire was a first-pitch strike that sailed low and inside.
After the next pitch went wide, he asked Hernandez, “What about that one?” and was thrown out.
“I didn’t even curse at him,” Kinsler told Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. “I said, ‘You need to re-evaluate your life, man. Just go home right now. Get out of the game. Just leave the game alone.’”
Kinsler, an 11-year veteran, didn’t stop there.
“I’m just saying it’s pretty obvious that he needs to stop ruining baseball games,” he continued. “Candidly, leave the game. No one wants you behind the plate anymore. No one in this game wants you behind the plate any more, none of the players.”
One American League executive who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about umpires’ performances said about Kinsler’s comments, “He said what 90 percent of every other player thinks.”
Hernandez, 55, has been a major league umpire since 1991. Last month, he filed a lawsuit against MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, alleging racial discrimination in baseball’s promotion and postseason assignment policies.
In a 2010 players survey conducted by ESPN, 22 percent of those polled counted Hernandez as baseball’s worst umpire.
Asked if he thought Hernandez was missing calls on purpose, Kinsler said, “No, I think he’s bad. He obviously thinks he’s good if he’s saying the grading system [grades him well]. Why is he suing MLB if he doesn’t think he’s good? I’m not mad at him for being bad. He just needs to go away.”
The two did shake hands Wednesday night in the series finale. Hernandez was working second base when Kinsler took his position for the bottom of the first inning, there appeared to be a few words shared between the two before Hernandez walked up to Kinsler and shook his hand, and then briefly put his hand on the second baseman’s shoulder.
It wasn’t clear who initiated the handshake.
Just a bit outside
Jordan Leandre’s return to Fenway Park in Boston will be memorable for more than one reason.
Leandre is a former DanaFarber Cancer Institute patient who sang the national anthem and ran the bases at Fenway Park multiple times as a child. He also made an appearance in the movie Fever Pitch as the little boy who sings the anthem.
He returned Wednesday night to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of members of the 1967 Red Sox team that won the American League Championship. But the pitch, which was supposed to be caught by Mike Andrews, missed the target.
Andrews did his best to catch the ball, but to no avail. The pitch hit photographer Tony Capobianco in what looked to be an unfortunate spot below the belt, but Capobianco later tweeted things were not what they appeared to be.
“THANK THE LAWD it was just a bit outside,” he tweeted.