ngel Hernndezs most controversial, infamous calls as an MLB umpire
The Mets and Braves went to extra innings July 5, 1998, the day before that year’s all-star break began. In the bottom of the 11th, the Braves’ Michael Tucker tagged up from third on Walt Weiss’s short flyball to left field, and the throw to New York catcher Mike Piazza clearly beat Tucker to the plate. But Hernández ruled Tucker safe, giving the Braves the victory and causing various Mets to blow their tops.
Mets closer John Franco earned a three-game suspension after he bumped and directed what the National League dubbed “personal profanities” at Hernández following the call, and Manager Bobby Valentine claimed Tucker came in spikes-high and never touched home plate. During Franco’s appeal of his suspension a few weeks later, one person involved in the play claimed Hernández told Piazza on at least two occasions during the game that “we’ve got to move the game along. I’ve got a plane to catch.”
Piazza’s summary immediately after the game: “The most ridiculous call I’ve seen in 10 years of professional baseball and 20 years of baseball, period. I’m completely flabbergasted, dumbfounded. I’m in shock . . . I don’t know what to say. Pathetic.”
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