3 MLB umpires who should follow Angel Hernandez into retirement

On May 28, infamous umpire Angel Hernandez announced his retirement after 24 years of calling games at the MLB level. While Hernandez is one of the most experienced officials in the league, he is also one of the most maligned.

Hernandez's resume includes a long list of blown calls, including some at very pivotal junctures of ballgames. According to Umpire Auditor, Hernandez missed 161 calls in just 10 games last season. The 62 year-old's many botched judgements have made him his fair share of enemies among the league's players.

Although Angel Hernandez may be the most well-known umpire to miss important calls, he is not the only one to do so on a regular basis. Today, we are looking at some other umpires who might want to consider calling it quits.

Three umpires to follow Angel Hernandez into retirement

Doug Eddings

Eddings has worked as an MLB umpire since 1998. Over that span of time, the 55-year-old has made plenty of enemies on account of his calls. In 2011, the HardBall Times listed Eddings as having the largest strike zone in baseball, and last season, the New Mexico-native had a 2.5 inch deviation in his strike zone, tied with Bill Maher for the most in the game.

"Ron Washington goes off on home plate ump Doug Eddings:" - BTH

In 2021, the San Diego Padres filed a formal complaint against Eddings after it was revealed that he exhibited a 0.69+ skew against the team.

Laz Diaz

Despite being inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, umpire Laz Diaz has botched a lot of calls since becoming an MLB umpire in 2000. According to Umpire Auditor, Diaz's touts an overall accuracy figure of just 89%, far lower than the league average. A favored whipping boy of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who has been ejected by Diaz on more than one occasion, perhaps it's time for the 61-year-old to call it a career.

"Umpire Laz Diaz missed 12 calls in the first 6 innings. When #Cardinals hitting coach Turner Ward argued, Diaz ejected him. The next 7 bad calls went against the Cardinals." - Umpire Auditor

CB Bucknor

Ranked just behind Angel Hernandez on Umpire Auditor's list of the worst officials in the league, CB Bucknor has missed a lot of calls since becoming an MLB official in 2000. Last September, the 61 year-old appeared to have forgotten to reset the pitch clock, which led to him ejecting Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. The Jamaican-born Bucknor also has a history of forgetting counts and calling strikeouts after strike 2.

"C.B. Bucknor tried to ring up Josh Naylor on a 2-1 count." - Umpire Auditor