Jamie Samuelsen: Bad umps like Hernandez should be held more accountable

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the "Jamie and Wojo" show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter@jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Ian Kinsler completely laid out umpire Angel Hernandez after Monday’s dust-up. Was this wise by Kinsler or ultimately something that’ll fall on deaf ears?

Bruce Rondon was sent down to the minors on Sunday after his latest attempt at throwing the ball somewhere near the plate. He may never return to the Tigers. He’s been ineffective. He has alienated teammates. And he angered the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers when he threw at Mike Moustakas in a game a few weeks ago. 

Rondon was dumped because he wasn’t doing his job well enough.

So why is Angel Hernandez still an umpire? 

I love baseball and I watch the Tigers as much as the next guy. But other than the Fox Box and close replays on TV, I have a hard time judging whether or not an umpire is good at his job. I’m also not privy to any of the things that are said between the players and the umps. I don’t know about the jawing that comes from each dugout unless you actually see the ump take off his mask and direct his attention toward wherever the noise is coming from.

But I know what the players say. And I know what the polls say. For the better part of the last 20 seasons, we’ve been hearing that Hernandez is not only the worst umpire in baseball, but he’s also one of the most confrontational. That was put on full display Monday night when he tossed Ian Kinsler and Brad Ausmus from the 6-2 loss to the Rangers. Kinsler was angry after some close pitches in the third inning. Things reached a boiling point when he took a questionable strike in the fifth then turned and asked Hernandez about a clear ball. He was ejected immediately. 

Kinsler didn’t calm down 24 hours later when he eviscerated Hernandez to Anthony Fenech and other beat writers before the Tigers 10-4 loss to the Rangers. I’ve seen players criticize officials in the past, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player double and triple down the way Kinsler did on Hernandez, especially given the fact that he had a night to sleep on it. 

The immediate impact is hard to predict. Major league umpires are too good and too smart to let the tirade against Hernandez affect how they call a game. Every player, manager and umpire has run-ins and most are big enough to move beyond it the next time they meet. If former umpire John Hirschbeck could overcome the fact that Roberto Alomar once spit in his face during an argument, then Hernandez should be able to move beyond the fact that Kinsler asked him to stop doing his job. Given his track record, I’m sure it’s not the worst thing that Hernandez has ever heard. 

The question that I have is should Hernandez be allowed to get past it. 

Umpires can be fired. Technically. 

Major league umpires resigned en masse during a labor negotiation in 1999 and MLB took the opportunity to not hire 22 of them back. But if you’re curious the last time an umpire was fired because he wasn’t very good at his job, good luck. Brian Runge was fired in 2012. It was later reported that he was let go for failing a drug test. But other than that, it’s difficult to find evidence of a baseball applying any sort of performance standard for job retention.

Hernandez recently filed suit against MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, charging discrimination against minority umpires, making it borderline impossible to fire him now. 

So if we can’t fire the umpires and we can’t argue with the umpires, my solution is to make the job that they do far more transparent. We hear about the umpire rankings, but we don’t see the criteria. If an umpire makes a game-altering call in a game, they speak to a pool reporter after the game but don’t face the cameras the way a closer does when he blows a save or a batter if he strikes out with the bases loaded. This is a very public game and the umpires know that when they pursue these jobs. If they blow a call, what’s wrong with coming forward to explain what they saw and how they called the action. If everyone in baseball is accountable, shouldn’t the umpires be accountable too?

If Hernandez and others can stand the scrutiny that comes along with being a big league ump, then they can handle the scrutiny of evaluation, second-guessing and public comment. If they can’t handle it, then they should go. 

If a player can’t play, he’s off the roster. The same should be true of the umpires.