If you missed it somehow, Bryce Harper went ballistic on Thursday night, getting ejected by Angel Hernandez for vehemently arguing what appeared to be a very incorrect call by Hernandez on a check swing:
The NBC Sports Philadelphis broadcast team lambasted Hernandez on the broadcast as Harper was going ballistic and eventually threw his helmet in the stands, and close to 24 hours later, Grant & Danny could do nothing but agree.
“Angel Hernandez is a horrendous umpire, has been for a long time,” Grant said, “and one of my great frustrations as a sports fan is how seemingly unaware some of these officials are of how bad they are.”
To Grant, accountability is part of it, as ‘they’re allowed to be bad and don't have to answer for it,’ but this one was especially egregious.
“Bryce didn’t get close to swinging, but for some reason, the home plate umpire points down to third, and Angel Hernandez who rings him up,” he said. “Either you have an axe to grind with Bryce Harper and don't like him, or you just didn't see the play. You just weren’t paying attention, said ‘50/50 chance I'm gonna say he went,’ those are the two options and that’s it.”
Grant usually would say ‘act like a pro’ and don’t go nuts on an ump, but ‘it was such a bad call that it was as if it was a personal affront to him,’ and Danny agreed.
“Because there’s no recourse there, no system of check to basically say he's not going to get to do that to you again or he'll receive his own punishment, what happens is the worst imaginable call happens,” Danny said. “The person who is aggrieved, legitimately upset, and to compound it, the person that bleeped up so badly removes you from the game, and nothing is going to happen to him.”
The guys took Rob Manfred and even the umpires’ union to task, and even if Harper would have calmed down if the game meant anything to either team, well,
“I think that was probably part of why he said, ‘tonight's the night I'm just gonna let him know that we all know that you're terrible,’ but I just think it's for these players, it's got to just be exhausting because it's the same few umpires all the time that are so bad with no recourse whatsoever,” Grant said. “I’m not anti-umpire, I’m anti-calls being wrong – and I interact with people who are super pro-umpire, but I hope you guys know that Angel Hernandez is an abomination. He just is horrific, and makes people who defend umpires look worse. We should all be in agreement on Angel Hernandez not deserving to continue to do this.”
They then played the audio of the TV broadcast, and the final line about Angel Hernandez consistently being a problem brought Danny’s ire back.
“I really believe that in his mind, Angel Hernandez believes he’s right and everyone’s wrong. “He’s Principal Skinner in The Simpsons, it’s the children who are wrong. No, he stinks at this, and I’m sure it’s a random coincidence that they're always arguing with him. I need repercussions for those guys, too, the same way they are for players.”
And then, the dagger from Grant:
“He apparently told Bryce after the game that when he saw the replay, Harper would know he was right…no manager, no player, would still have their jobs if they were as bad as what they do as Angel Hernandez.”