Why Angel Hernandez umpiring the MLB All-Star Game has nothing to do with his lawsuit

Hidden deep within a press release from Major League Baseball on Thursday morning was one interesting bit: Umpire Angel Hernandez has been tabbed as the first base umpire for Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game.

Normally, that wouldn’t even be news; the All-Star Game is once again an exhibition and the game’s umpires are rarely even noticed. But the announcement comes less than a week after news broke that Hernandez filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against commissioner Rob Manfred, alleging that he has been passed over multiple times for the chance to work a World Series and has not been promoted from temporary to permanent crew chief.

For some, the appointment mixed with Hernandez’s well-documented on-field struggles may cause the first thought to be that the league allowing Hernandez to work a major event is an olive branch in the midst of an ongoing legal battle. One could argue that the decision looks like Major League Baseball is throwing Hernandez a bone, rewarding his 24 years of service with his third All-Star appointment.

That doesn’t appear to be the case.

First, league rules state that “umpires assigned to work the Mid-Summer Classic shall be notified of their assignment not less than 30 days prior to the game,” meaning Hernandez learned of the assignment in mid-June. According to USA Today, the league received a summons this Wednesday about the issue, making it unlikely that the decision has anything to do with the suit.

A likely explanation for Hernandez’ appointment is a continuation of Major League Baseball’s pattern of assigning All-Star Games to umpires with ties to the host city. Mike Winters, the crew chief for the 2016 edition in San Diego, attended San Diego State, while James Hoye in 2015 (Ohio State graduate), Jeff Nelson in 2014 (Minnesota native) and John Hirschbeck in 2013 (southern Connecticut native) each worked games in places they previously called home.

Hernandez is one of three Florida natives (and two Hispanics) working this year’s game in Miami, joining Mike Estabrook and Venezuelan-born Manny Gonzalez. Giving umpires the chance to work events like the All-Star Game in their home state is a nice gesture by Major League Baseball, especially in a time when the dialogue has been opened about diversity in the umpiring pool.

Though the Cincinnati Enquirer estimated that only about 10 percent of the league’s umpires are African-American or Hispanic, the decision that the roster of six umpires includes two Hispanics in a city with as rich of a Latin American history as Miami does not seem like a coincidence.

Hernandez, who was born in Cuba, moved to Hialeah, Fla. (about 30 minutes from Miami) at 14 months and is part of a well-known baseball family in the Miami area. According to the Miami Herald, Hernandez’s father, Angel Hernandez Sr., ran a local baseball league for nearly 35 years and even has a street named after him in town. The younger Hernandez himself was rewarded for his work with youth programs with a key to the city of Hialeah.

So while some conspiracy theories on Twitter have made Hernandez’s appointment seem like a shady, under-the-table move for Major League Baseball to get back in the umpire’s good graces, it’s probably not. Lawsuit or not, the league is letting the veteran ump work on a big stage at home.