Umpire strikes back
Calls foul on lawsuit’s bid for colleague info
He's out — of order!
Major League Baseball is balking at a loathed umpire's legal effort to obtain performance evaluations of his fellow umps, as well as information on the league's instant replay protocol.
Umpire Angel Hernandez — whom Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia called “absolutely terrible” after this year's American League Division Series — has sued MLB for discrimination, claiming that he has not been promoted to crew chief because of his Latino descent.
A simmering beef with former Yankees skipper Joe Torre, who now oversees the MLB's 76 umpires, resulted in Hernandez being unfairly labeled as a showboat who unnecessarily inserts himself into the game, the Cubanborn ump alleges.
The suit was recently moved to Manhattan Federal Court from Cincinnati. In a letter filed last week, an MLB lawyer revealed that Hernandez has requested “several categories of highly sensitive documents” to prove his case.
The categories include “employment documents concerning job history, performance and evaluation of other umpires,” confidential grievance and arbitration proceedings, umpire training methodology and instant replay protocol, MLB attorney Neil Abramson writes.
“Discovery should not be weaponized where, as here, a case is receiving press attention and (Hernandez) seeks sensitive documents and information that implicate the privacy interests of nonparties and confidential proceedings,” Abramson wrote.
Hernandez is no stranger to baseball's instant replay system. He had three calls overturned at first base in Game 3 of the division series between the Yankees and Red Sox, setting a record for umpire inaccuracy in the postseason since replay was expanded in 2014.
"He was terrible behind the plate today. He was terrible at first base. It's amazing how he's getting jobs umpiring in these playoff games,” Sabathia said after Game 4, which eliminated the Bronx Bombers from the playoffs.
Hernandez filed an amended lawsuit last week adding new claims of discrimination. He says Torre has had it out for him since a game on May 4, 2001.
Hernandez “seems to see something nobody else does,” Torre, who was managing the Yankees, said after the game.
“I think he just wanted to be noticed over there.”
Torre's perception of Hernandez remained the same when he became MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations, the suit charges. Hernandez's first performance review after Torre's appointment was harsher than any the ump had received since 2002, according to the lawsuit.
“You need to work on your communication skills with onfield 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,” the commissioner's office wrote.
Judging by recent comments of current and former players, Hernandez's onfield communication hasn't changed much since the feedback.
“It doesn't matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball. He's as bad as there is,” Pedro Martinez, an analyst for TBS and former Red Sox pitcher, said in October.
Second baseman Ian Kinsler was even harsher last year.
“I'm surprised at how bad an umpire he is,” said Kinsler, who at the time played for the Detroit Tigers. “I don't know how, for as many years as he's been in the league, that he can be that bad. He needs to reevaluate his career choice, he really does. Bottom line.”
A message to Hernandez's attorney was not returned. MLB declined to comment.