MLB insider says social media, press played role in Ángel Hernández's retirement

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Late last month, Ángel Hernández decided to call it a career after over three decades of umpiring.

The 62-year-old suddenly retired Monday night, accepting a financial settlement to end his career.

Hernández had a reputation as one of the worst umpires — maybe the worst — in baseball.

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Home plate umpire Ángel Hernández works a game between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium Aug. 6, 2023, in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

As replay and talk of an automated strike zone have become more prominent, the microscope on Hernández became even more magnified, and ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan says that played a part in his early retirement.

"It makes me wonder, like, what’s my responsibility and what’s my part in this?" Passan told "The Rich Eisen Show. "Because I think sometimes we take for granted what social media actually does and how it brings out the absolute worst in a lot of us. 

"And I think the easiest way to do this and the easiest standard by which any of us, frankly, should live, is ‘Would I say it to the man’s face?’ Any of the stuff we say on social media about Ángel Hernández, if you were confronted by Ángel Hernández, would you say it to his face? Would you call him the names that you call him online? Would you tell him how terrible he is?

Manager Bobby Valentine, left, of the New York Mets, argues with umpire Ángel Hernández about a questionable call during a game against the San Francisco Giants at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco May 12, 2001. (Jeff Gross/Allsport)

"A lot of that stuff, frankly, led to him going