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MLB Umpire Sues over Racial Discrimination, Blames Joe Torre

Says Torre’s “animosity” toward him blocked professional achievements.

A veteran Major League Baseball umpire is suing the league over racial discrimination, alleging his professional degradation was fueled in part by longtime MLB manager and executive Joe Torre’s “animosity” toward him. Cuban-born umpire Angel Hernandez has been an official with the league since 1993 and was assigned to two World Series in 2002 and 2005—but since Torre’s ascension to the chief baseball officer role in 2011, the lawsuit alleges, World Series umpire crews have been all-white with just two exceptions. “The selection of these less qualified, white individuals over Hernandez was motivated by racial, national origin and/or ethnic considerations,” the lawsuit reads, adding that Torre “has a history of animosity towards Hernandez stemming from Torre’s time as manager of the New York Yankees.”