Craig: Angel Hernandez may be a bad umpire, but do not dismiss his lawsuit
From Mary Craig at Beyond the Box Score on July 6, 2017:
On Tuesday, news broke of Cuban-born veteran umpire Angel Hernandez filing a discrimination suit against Major League Baseball and commissioner Rob Manfred. In the suit, Hernandez claims to have been passed over for permanent crew chief numerous times in favor of less experienced umpires and alleges much of the issue began in 2011 when Joe Torre took over as MLB’s chief baseball officer.
Many have dismissed the case based on the fact that Hernandez is a terrible umpire and therefore deservedly sits out World Series games and crew chief appointments. But here’s the thing: It’s possible for Hernandez to both be bad at his job and be discriminated against. One does not preclude the other, and it may even be the case that he was chosen as a target on the pretense of his poor performance masking the discrimination, which has been a method utilized by other employers throughout American history.
Read the full article here: https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2017/7/6/15919416/angel-hernandez-mlb-umpiring-racism-discrimination-lawsuit-joe-torre
Originally published: July 7, 2017. Last Updated: July 7, 2017.