CC Sabathia rips umpire Angel Hernandez after Yankees' playoff loss
- The Boston Red Sox eliminated their rival New York Yankees from the postseason with a 4-3 win in Game 4 of the ALDS Tuesday night.
- After the game, Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia criticized umpire Ángel Hernández for his performance behind the plate, saying he "shouldn't be anywhere near a playoff game."
- Hernández came under fire after having three calls overturned on review while officiating at first base during Game 3 of the series.
The Boston Red Sox ended the New York Yankees' postseason run Tuesday night with a 4-3 win in Game 4 of the ALDS. While the Red Sox outplayed their rivals throughout the series - capped by a 15-run rout in Game 3 - veteran pitcher CC Sabathia cited another factor contributing to his team's loss.
The outspoken Yankees southpaw - who gave up three runs and five hits through three innings pitched Tuesday - criticized umpire Ángel Hernández's performance in both of the final two games of the ALDS.
"He's absolutely terrible," Sabathia said. "He was terrible behind the plate today. He was terrible at first base [in Game 3]. It's amazing how he's getting jobs umpiring in these playoff games."
Hernández came into Game 4 with a target on his back after four of his calls at first base were reviewed - and three overturned - in the first four innings of Monday night's contest. The most egregious miscall came in the bottom of the first when New York challenged his call that Didi Gregorius was out at first.
The 57-year-old has been an umpire in the MLB since 1991. In addition to his troubles at first base, Hernández has also earned a reputation for inconsistency in calling balls and strikes. Sabathia claimed that Hernández's strike zone was as erratic as ever during Game 4:
"He's always bad," Sabathia said. "He's a bad umpire... I don't understand why he's doing these games."
Sabathia is likely to incur a hefty fine from the league after such a blatant attack against an umpire, but he was likely not the only player espousing this view. In a 2010 confidential poll of 100 major league players, ESPN found that Hernández was rated the third-worst umpire in the MLB with 22 percent of respondents voting for him as worst in the league.
After Game 3, former Red Sox Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez weighed in:
"Oh, Ángel is horrible. Don't get me going on Ángel now," Martinez said on the TBS postgame show Monday night. "Major League Baseball needs to do something about Ángel... He's as bad as there is."