Cardinals Announcer Slams Angel Hernandez in First Inning of Spring Training Opener

In Monday’s Hot Clicks: Everybody’s least favorite umpire gets roasted, Trey Mancini steps back on the field after recovering from cancer and more.

But he actually got the call right!

The one thing all baseball fans can agree on is that Angel Hernandez stinks at his job. Umpiring is undoubtedly very difficult to do well, but most MLB umps perform well enough to enjoy anonymity. Hernandez, on the other hand, manages to screw up so egregiously and so consistently that he’s become a household name.

The current baseball season has barely begun and Hernandez is already getting under people’s skin. In the top of the first inning on the very first day of spring training games, Hernandez botched a strike call and the Cardinals broadcast crew didn’t cut him any slack.

“Angel Hernandez is in midseason form,” play-by-play man Dan McLaughlin deadpanned.

“Let’s not make this game too fast, Angel,” color commentator Jim Edmonds added.

"Angel Hernandez is in the midseason form" pic.twitter.com/EdJhr3xJIO

— Tony X (@soIoucity) February 28, 2021

But here’s the thing: Hernandez actually got this call right. MLB.com’s pitch-tracking shows that the ball was low—barely, but still low.

MLB.com

The broadcast camera angle is just brutal. It looks like the camera is at the base of the center field wall, making it impossible to tell where a pitch ends up. If McLaughlin and Edmonds are calling the game remotely off of a monitor (like most broadcasters are doing during spring training), then they would have no way of knowing where a pitch actually was when it crossed the plate.

Hernandez never gets the benefit of the doubt, though. His reputation precedes him. That’s not to say he wasn’t worthy of scorn on Sunday afternoon. Check out where this pitch was thrown. Hernandez called it a ball.

MLB.com

Hernandez may have gotten that first-inning call correct, but there’s something familiar and comforting about seeing his name start trending on Twitter. It means baseball really is back.

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Giannis stepped up in the fourth for the Bucks

GIANNIS SAID NOPE

(via @Bucks)pic.twitter.com/LjdRr5zTzm

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 28, 2021

GIANNIS WITH THE SLAM!

(🎥@NBAUK)pic.twitter.com/1kV9ELvhQS

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) February 28, 2021

Great to see Trey Mancini back on the field

What a moment: Trey Mancini receives a standing ovation in his first at-bat since recovering from colon cancer 🧡

(via @Orioles)pic.twitter.com/VvqlzREyrm

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 28, 2021

College football is the gift that keeps on giving

Uhhh Eastern Washington’s kicker just kicked a 22-yard field goal and something happened and the ball hit the scoreboard after going through the uprights and the refs got confused and just looked around and called it no good. Holy shit this is worse than the 5th down. pic.twitter.com/apT5r9cJlD

— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) February 28, 2021

Phillies fans are also in mid-season form

The Phillies threw 50 pitches in the first inning. They got two outs. The inning is over. Fans are booing.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) February 28, 2021

Jordan Binnington went ballistic after getting pulled

LSU’s Aaliyah Andrews has had a hell of a first month of the season

How hard is it to follow the rules?

A live look at the crowd...some with masks, some without. #Yankees #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/dxa5qW5Ffa

— Kristie Ackert (@ByKristieAckert) February 28, 2021

Picture-perfect fadeaway for the win

Isaiah Todd com o game winner num Dirk Fadeway

pic.twitter.com/1CYWU9HcHg

— Poliseli (@BBall_Poliseli) February 28, 2021

Not sports

A man in India was killed by his own rooster during a cockfight after he attached a knife to its leg. ... Kenan Thompson says Alex Trebek loved SNL’s “Black Jeopardy!” sketches. ... Software company SolarWinds, which was the victim of an enormous hack, blamed its “solarwinds123” password on an intern. ... An American Airlines pilot spotted a UFO over New Mexico.

Jeff Daniels had the best Golden Globes setup

A good song

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