Report: MLB Umpire Ángel Hernández to Announce Retirement From Baseball

The highly criticized umpire is reportedly calling it a career.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Ángel Hernández reportedly is calling it a career this week.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that MLB plans to announce Tuesday that Hernández—one of the most criticized umpires of his generation—is retiring from baseball.

The 62-year-old Hernández hasn't worked a game since May 9, the Chicago White Sox's 3–2 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field. He was replaced on the crew by Jacob Metz.

Hernández began his MLB career as an umpire in 1991 and became a full-time ump in the National League in '93. He worked the All-Star Game in '99, 2009 and '17, and the World Series in '02 and '05.

Hernández was arguably the most recognizable umpire in baseball over the last few decades due to his controversial calls.

Just this season, Hernández was heavily criticized on social media for calling three straight strikes that were clearly outside the zone on Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford. He missed 12 strikes that game alone that were regarded as true balls by Umpire Scorecards. He also went viral in April for calling two different pitches that were right down the middle as balls. Hernández also ejected St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn twice—in the same game—during spring training.

In 2023, Hernández didn't umpire his first game of the year until August but missed 161 calls in 10 games, per Umpire Auditor.