Umpires union: ‘Open season’ on umpires, protesting with white wristbands

Major League Baseball fined Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler for his comments about umpire Angel Hernandez this week, but the union representing MLB umpires is far from satisfied.

The World Umpires Association issued a statement condemning the lack of support from the Office of the Commissioner:

“This week, a player publicly and harshly impugned the character and integrity of Angel Hernandez – a veteran umpire who has dedicated his career to baseball and the community. The verbal attack on Angel denigrated the entire MLB umpiring staff and is unacceptable," the statement read.

"The Office of the Commissioner has failed to address this and other escalating attacks on umpires. The player who denigrated Hernandez publicly said he thought he would be suspended. Instead got far more lenient treatment – a fine. He shrugged that off and told reporters he has ‘no regrets’ about his offensive statements calling for an end to Hernandez’s career.

"The Office of the Commissioner’s lenient treatment to abusive player behavior sends the wrong message to players and managers. It’s ‘open season’ on umpires, and that’s bad for the game."

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The union says umpires will wear white wristbands as a protest "until our concerns are taken seriously," beginning with games on Saturday.

"We are held accountable for our performance at every game. Our most important duty is to protect the integrity of the game, and we will continue to do that job every day. But the Office of the Commissioner must protect our integrity when we are unfairly attacked simply for doing our jobs."

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