Ian Kinsler (Tigers' photo)
Tigers' second baseman Ian Kinsler rips into home plate umpire Angel Hernadez, who ejected him and manager Brad Ausmus in Monday's game against the Texas Rangers.
"I’m surprised at how bad an umpire he is,” Kinsler said before Tuesday's game, according to Chris McCockey of The Detroit News. “I don’t know how, for as many years he’s been in the league, that he can be that bad. He needs to reevaluate his career choice, he really does. Bottom line.”
Kinsler apparently voices criticism other players have quietly echoed over the years.
It began in the fifth inning when Kinsler took a pitch that was obviously a ball. The umpire called it a strike. Kinsler questioned it.
The next pitch was obviously outside the strike zone again and the umpire called it a ball. Kinsler turned around and asked: "What about that one?"
The umpire tossed him from the game. Then Ausmus came out of the dugout and was ejected as well.
“This has to do with changing the game,” Kinsler says.. “He’s changing the game. He needs to find another job. He really does.”
He said he doesn't take it personally. "He's just that bad."
