Umpire Angel Hernandez #5 runs from third base during Game 5 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Thursday, October 14, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham / MLB Ph
New York - Ángel Hernández was on his way to referee the 2018 World Championships before turning three times at first base for video reviews during Game 3 of this year’s AL Series between the New York Yankees and Boston, MLB He wrote in response to his latest legal file.
Cuban-born Hernandez was hired as a senior league referee in 1993 and filed a lawsuit in 2017, alleging he was discriminated against because he had not been appointed to the world championships since 2005 and was abandoned as crew chief.
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken issued an expedited ruling to the MLB in March 2021, and Hernandez asked the Second U.S. Court of Appeals in February to dismiss Oetken’s decision.
Hernandez served as interim chief of staff from 2011 to 2016, at the start of the 2020 season delayed by the pandemic and for part of the 2021 season, but he was not appointed as permanent chief of staff.
“Hernandez has not provided, nor does the record contain, an iota of evidence that the MLB’s actions were based on his race or national origin,” the MLB wrote in a 58-page filing Wednesday.
The MLB said Hernandez has no legal basis for claiming that he does not need to show statistical discrimination due to the relatively small sample sizes involved in his case.
Kevin Murphy, an attorney for Hernandez, did not respond to an email requesting comment.
In its response brief on Wednesday, the MLB wrote that then-chief baseball officer Joe Torrey selected Hernandez for the Division Series in 2018 “with the goal of giving him a chance to referee in that year’s World Series.”
“Hernandez did not take advantage of this opportunity and did not rise to the occasion,” the MLB wrote. “This was the first time since the appearance of the extended instant replay in 2014 that three referee calls in a post-season match had been disqualified. Based on his performance during that Division Series playoff, Toure was not confident Hernandez would be able to effectively perform at the end of the season. A more intense stage, which is why I didn’t choose him for the World Championship that season.”
The MLB also cited Hernandez’s failure to reverse the call that Oakland’s Adam Rosales failed to clear the wall in what could have been a key run in the ninth inning in Cleveland on May 8, 2013.
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“For years, Hernandez refused to admit that the call he made was incorrect, and instead tried to blame the quality of the remodeling equipment,” the MLB said. “Hernandez’s inability to put the Cleveland incident behind him—and his constant insistence that others were wrong for his wrong decision—was emblematic of why Toure deemed him unsuitable for world championship assignments and a permanent chief crew role. The issue was not the bad call per se, but Hernandez’s reaction to his mistake.”
Citing the 2011-16 seasons, Hernandez’s attorneys told the Court of Appeals in a June filing that “MLB manipulated Mr. Hernandez’s year-end ratings in order to make his job performance appear worse than it actually was. Mr. Hernandez’s year-end ratings for the 2011-seasons 2016 doesn’t even come close to summarizing the actual performance of Mr. Hernandez in those seasons.”
MLB wrote on Wednesday that “Hernandez was quick to fire the managers, which inflamed tensions on the field, rather than issuing warnings that would likely defuse these situations. Hernandez also failed to communicate with other referees in his staff, leading to confusion about on the field and unnecessary delays in the game.”
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 24: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies argues with home plate referee Angel Hernandez after calling for strikes during the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park on April 24, 2022.
MLB also alleged that Toure noticed Hernandez throwing his headphones after a video review of one of his calls in 2014 overturned and abused a substitution rule, resulting in a 14-minute delay and protest during a game between Boston and Tampa Bay on July 24, 2019.
“During this investigation, the MLB concluded that Hernandez deliberately and deceptively eavesdropped on a confidential conversation with another referee on his staff to hear what that referee had to say about the incident; and when MLB asked Hernandez about it, he lied about his behavior,” the MLB wrote.
The MLB also reiterated a claim it made earlier in the lawsuit that Hernandez asked Cincinnati Reds Homer Bailey bowler to sign 11 baseballs after a game in which Bailey delivered a big hit in 2012.