Veteran umpire Angel Hernandez doesn't have a good reputation among fans and we can probably loop in the players and managers, too, given his history of quick ejections. Last season, Ian Kinsler suggested Hernandez find another line of work. I'd say after Joe West, Hernandez is probably the umpire fans most know, and that's not a good sign. A good umpire is pretty anonymous and that makes perfect sense: We notice when you mess up or make the game about you.
Hernandez didn't have any issues with players or managers in ALDS Game 3 between the Red Sox and Yankees, but he did grab the spotlight unwittingly. He had three calls of his at first base overturned by replay in the first four innings.
Here's the first one:
.@RedSox challenge call that Didi Gregorius is safe at 1B in the 2nd; call overturned, runner is out.
— MLB Replay (@MLBReplays) October 9, 2018
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Here's the next:
.@Yankees challenge call that Gleyber Torres is out at 1B in the 3rd; call overturned, runner is safe.
— MLB Replay (@MLBReplays) October 9, 2018
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The third one was blatant. It honestly felt like the fastest overturned call I've seen in a long time. Almost immediately after they put on the headset, they were taking it off and changing the call.
.@Yankees challenge call that Didi Gregorius is out at 1B in the 4th; call overturned, runner is safe.
— MLB Replay (@MLBReplays) October 9, 2018
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That's a rough night and it was only through the fourth inning. You might be wondering how often this happens to Hernandez. Well, he's about "middle of the pack" in terms of how many of his calls are challenged compared to other umpires, per Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions. The rate of overturns, though:
Over the last 3 regular seasons, an Angel Hernandez call as 1B umpire went to replay review 18 times
— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) October 9, 2018
The call was overturned 14 times (78% of time)
Overturn rate during that time is 60% - so he's not massively above the norm- but he is above it
Being an umpire is hard, but Hernandez could stand to be a lot better in doing it.