MLB umpire Angel Hernandez has been the subject of plenty of ridicule in recent years for a slate of questionable calls, and he added another career lowlight on Tuesday night.
Hernandez served as the first-base umpire on Tuesday as the Royals hosted Cleveland. Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez launched a ball into the outfield in the second inning, and it landed between Cleveland outfielders Harold Ramirez and Josh Naylor. The hit likely would have scored Andrew Benintendi from second base, but Hernandez quickly stepped in before the play was completed.
Hernandez erroneously signaled an out as the ball fell into the outfield grass, forcing Benintendi to retreat to second base before being tagged out. You can watch the chaos in Kansas City ensue below:
Hernandez and his fellow umpires eventually overturned the call, awarding Benintendi third base. B
“I was trying to read the players to see what they did with the ball, and I had to come out with the call,” Hernandez said postgame, according to the Kansas City Star. “I basically guessed on the wrong call.”
“As you saw, I got basically blinded by the outfield scoreboard. The pixels on the lights were as clear as white can be. I was trying to make out what happened out there.”
We shouldn’t be too hard on Hernandez, who simply made a mistake in the heat of the action. Unlike some other instances in his career, this error was forgiven rather quickly in Kansas City’s 7-3 win.
