Remember when you were a kid playing whiffle ball or stick ball on the street? You would bring your bat, ball, and glove and play for hours with friends until either mom called dinner, or an argument would break out. Generally the argument would be over where a ball had landed, or if  the pitched ball was a strike or not. Being a mature 8, 9, 10, or 35-year-old, the argument would often escalate to the point of, “I get my call or I’m going home.” Sometimes you would get to go home, and sometimes others realized (especially when you had brought the ball) that perhaps your call was the right call.

I think MLB has reached that point with Angel Hernandez.

In the April 24 game that ended with Angel Hernandez calling out Angel Hernandez, according to Umpire Auditor, a Twitter account dedicated to tracking strike-ball calls, managed to get 85.3% (110 pf 129) ball strike calls correct. While a B+ in your college history class, that was the lowest rating of the day of any umpire. Not surprising, so far in 2022, Angel Hernandez had the lowest correct ball-strike calls each time he has been the home plate umpire.

Calling a pitch correctly traveling 90+ miles per hour while spinning at over 2200+ revolutions is hard. Very few readers would be correct over 85% of the time. Even professional umpires only work behind the dish every 4 games because of the challenging physical toll. But Joe Reader is not who we’re judging here. We are reviewing the work performance of an experienced professional who can no longer call balls and strikes at an acceptable rate.

What would happen if a concerted effort was made that MLB teams refused to take the field? How about a showdown where Steven Cohen announced announced ahead of time, and Buck Showalter followed through that the Mets would refuse to take the field while Angel Hernandez was umpiring behind the plate? Given the likely follow through by other MLB teams (even if they didn’t it would be worth the cost) could the viewing public finally be rid of the spectacle of Angel Hernandez behind the plate?

Oh, but the umpires union. Ooh we must be scared of the 120-plus in blue. We must placate them or they might be upset. They might file a grievance. What if the real power in MLB, no not Commissioner Manfred, but the gambling apps perhaps joined a counter grievance as millions of dollars are being impacted by the worst umpire in MB today? Perhaps the union dedicated to supporting the MLB umpires who know the difference between a ball and a strike would back down?

My ball, my bat, your bad eyesight. Call it my way or we go home?

Who agrees? Comment below.