Angel Hernandez The Worst Umpire of All Time… and Other Insights From Our MLB Fans Survey

Between Angel Hernandez’s mid-season retirement to the recent announcement that Triple-A leagues will switch to using an ABS (automated ball-strike) challenge system for the rest of the season, there’s a lot going on in the world of MLB umpiring. With that in mind, we surveyed over 2,000 baseball fans to get their opinions on the worst umpire, the use of “robo umps”, and more. We broke down some of the highlights below, and you can find the full results of the survey here, including demographic and fanbase breakdowns.

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Angel Hernandez Voted The Worst Umpire Ever… By (Almost) Every Fan Base

Angel Hernandez is a controversial figure in the baseball world. Following his sudden retirement earlier this year he was praised by many in the MLB community, with a number of people saying he received more scorn than he deserved. The fans don’t seem to agree. Roughly one out of every three baseball fans (31%) said Hernandez was the worst umpire in MLB history. What’s more, at least a plurality of fans of each team who had an opinion on the matter voted him the worst. Arizona Diamondbacks fans were the only ones to choose somebody different, with Joe West getting the most votes out of any name among D-backs fans.

Arizona fans might be onto something though, as West ranks as one of the least accurate umpires in baseball since UmpScorecards.com started tracking umpire statistics in 2015. In that time, West had the 10th worst accuracy rate out of 132 umpires, and the worst one to work at least 200 games. Hernandez’s numbers aren’t much better, ranking as the 35th least accurate umpire.

Majority of Fans Don’t Want Robo Umps, But There’s a Generational Divide

MLB just announced that for the rest of the season Triple-A games will include an ABS (automatic ball-strike) challenge system allowing managers to have pitches reviewed by so-called “robo umpires.” While this testing of the technology at the highest level of the minors would seem to indicate that robo umps will soon be getting their call up to the majors, fans think the league should pump the brakes. 57% of MLB fans do not think the league should introduce ABS into the majors according to our findings. The results get even more interesting when broken down by age though.

While a majority of total fans don’t want robo umps, that group is made up primarily of older fans. A whopping 70% of fans aged 55 or over oppose ABS, as well as 60% of those between 45 and 54. If we look at 18 to 24 year old fans though, 51% are in favor of robo umps in the majors. 25 to 34 (45% support, 45% oppose) and 35 to 44 year old fans (44% support, 48% oppose) are more evenly divided. 

Over 1 in 3 Fans Think Their Team Is The Victim Of Below-Average Umpiring

A significant portion of fans, over one in three, believe that their team has seen worse officiating against their squad than the average MLB team. That number is highest amongst young fans, with 54% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 believing that they were the victim of below-average umpire performances. That number progressively lowered when looking at older fans, with only 23% of fans 55 or older believing the same. 

When breaking down the results by fanbase, it is Washington Nationals fans who are most likely to believe their woes are due to bad officiating, with 46% of fans saying their team was a victim. Only three other fanbases saw at least 40% of their respondents say they thought they were a victim, the Los Angeles Dodgers (42%), Philadelphia Phillies (41%), and the New York Yankees (40%). Interestingly, all three of those teams currently have the best or second-best record in their respective leagues, with the Phillies owning the best winning percentage in the league right now. Yet those team’s fans seemingly believe their team should be doing even better and that shoddy umpire work must be to blame. 

43% of Fans Don’t Think Umpires Are Paid Fairly

MLB umpires reportedly make between $150,000 and $450,000 during the course of the regular season, depending on seniority. Bonuses of $17,500 to $20,000 (plus expenses) per series are also available for those that work the postseason. Altogether, a seasoned ump could potentially make over $500,000 per season. 

But our survey shows that nearly half of all baseball fans believe umpires’ salaries do not line up adequately with the ever growing salaries of players. When asked if they believed that umpire salaries are in line with those of players, 43% said no, compared to just 23% who said yes. The trend of more fans believing that the salaries do not line up than believing that they do holds up across every demographic, and almost every fan base. The Colorado Rockies were the only fanbase to be more likely to believe that umpire salaries are commensurate with those of players, while a few others were split evenly between yes and no.

Methodology

This survey was created and commissioned by VegasInsider. The research was carried out online by Research Without Barriers - RWB on VegasInsider’s behalf. All surveys were conducted between 10th June 2024 and 13th June 2024 with a sample of 2,029 USA MLB fans.

All research conducted adheres to the MRS Codes of Conduct (2023) in the UK and ICC/ESOMAR World Research Guidelines. RWB is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office and is fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (2018).

All umpire statistics are courtesy of UmpScorecards.com.