After the 3-4 defeat and the elimination of the Boston Red Sox, the Bronx Bombers’ frustration was concentrated on Umpire Angel Hernandez, who did not do a good series overall.
Starter CC Sabathia called Hernandez, who acted as Home Plate Umpire in Game 4, “terrible”. “He’s absolutely terrible.” And then Sabathia really got the hang of it: “He was terrible behind the record today. He was terrible on first base. It’s amazing that he gets to play in playoff games.”
Sabathia also hinted at Hernandez’s performance in game 3 on first base when there were four challenges against his decisions in the first four innings – three of which were corrected by replay.
However, the left-hander did not want to tie New York’s retirement to Hernandez: “Not in the least. But he shouldn’t be active in playoff games. He’s always bad. He’s a bad Umpire.”
Red-Sox starter Rick Porcello saw things differently and let Sabathia know: “Throw the ball over the plate, CC!” Porcello added: “I thought Angel Hernandez called a good game. You have to throw the ball over the white part of the plate and then you get the strike calls.”
Hernandez sued the 2017 league for racial discrimination because he had been denied promotion to Crew Chief and postseason duties. Since 2017, the Cuban-born has been called to the All-Star Game and was allowed to act in both 2017 and 2018 in the postseason.
This article was published without prior review by Major League Baseball.