Freddie Freeman makes Angel Hernandez look foolish after terrible call against LA

Angel Hernandez did his best, but even umpires can't get in the way of a productive hitter, and Freddie Freeman is one of the best around.

Freeman and the Dodgers defeated the New York Mets by a 10-spot on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully for Los Angeles, the margin of victory was far too high for Hernandez to make any real impact on the final score.

Hernandez has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2024. If MLB were a fair and just league, he'd be out of a job by now, and that's not something I take lightly. Calling balls and strikes in an MLB game is one of the toughest jobs around. These days, umpires are publically criticized for every mistake they make. That's why Hernandez is so well known.

However, Angel does everything in his power to make himself bigger than the game itself. It's as if fans in attendance pay for the Angel Hernandez show, rather than a Mets-Dodgers matinee.

On Sunday, Hernandez screwed Freeman out of a 3-1 count which would've provided him with a significant edge over Mets reliever Grant Hartwig. The fourth pitch below should have been a ball.

Rather than pout about the matter, Freeman made Hernandez and New York pay.

Dodgers overcome Angel Hernandez, Mets for an easy win

Los Angeles did spend over $1 billion in free agency this winter -- albeit much of it in deferred money -- so if one team deserves to receive the wrath of Angel Hernandez, perhaps it is them. For those wondering why Angel is still employed in the first place, the answer is complicated.

First, the MLB umpires union is one of the strongest in sports. Firing umpires can occur, but it needs to be for performance-based reasons, which are tough to measure at this point without any sort of challenge system involving balls and strikes and/or ABS. When implemented, ABS may be able to hold umpires more accountable, while also improving the on-field product, but we're still years away from that.

Second, Hernandez sued MLB for discrimination just a few short years ago. While he didn't win that case, it does provide some hesitance from the league to let him go altogether, and it's easy to see why.

Simply put, we're stuck with Hernandez for now. Hopefully he retires soon.