You Can Blame Angel Hernandez if You Want, But…

Angel Hernandez,

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Angel Hernandez is the story of Tuesday’s game if you’re a Giants’ fan. Obviously he allowed all 6 of the A’s runs on Tuesday night, right? Such is the way that the Giants’ season has been going as of late.

It all started when Hunter Pence made a nifty play in right. Immediately after this, he taunted the A’s faithful with a hand to his ear, a la Hulk Hogan. Do not tempt the baseball gods sir, because you will be smitten.

Of course, this is exactly what happened. Pence had already allowed a ball to drop because of a communication error, and the Athletics strung some hits together and scored 4 times in the 3rd. Obviously, this was too much of an offensive hill to climb for the Giants, but you have to play all 9 innings, right?

So they did.

Madison Bumgarner was more Mad than Bum, and his frustration boiled over due to an inconsistent strike zone from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. He should have been tossed in the 3rd after yelling at the umpire, but Hernandez allowed him to stay in. You’re welcome Giants’ fans.

If MadBum had been tossed, the A’s lineup would have made the 6-1 victory even more lopsided because the bullpen of the Giants has been terrible of late. At one point, Bumgarner was calling for the ball after a shallow pop fly that Joe Panik has taken care of. He didn’t want the ball thrown around the horn or in anyone else’s hands. Bumgarner blatantly disrespected the rookie right there. He also seemed full of arrogance throughout the game, which is odd, because his team was losing 4-0 for a good portion of his appearance. Apparently Bumgarner is the best baseball player on Earth and all of these “teammates” are holding him back.

The Giants recent woes may be a part of this showing of anger, but by each player trying to play the hero, the team ends up the loser. Baseball is a team game. There is a reason the Angels haven’t been able to make the playoffs, even though they have Mike Trout.

More from Oakland A's News

• Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
• Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
• San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
• Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen
• Oakland A’s bring Deolis Guerra back on minor league deal

The Athletics operate as a team. No one player is bigger than another. That is , besides Nate Freiman, but even he has some competition as of late with Kyle Blanks, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel all being tall as well.

Angel Hernandez didn’t make Brian Sabean sign Michael Morse as their only offensive insurance this season. Nor did he only allow Sabean to sign Tim Hudson to give the Giants 5 starters.

The key to building a winner isn’t the team that you assemble for Opening Day. It’s the team you build to absorb injuries (admittedly, which the Giants are dealing with) and continue to find ways to win when those injuries occur. If you include the injuries the A’s absorbed in the spring, the A’s are on their 12th starter this season. The Giants have had only 6, yet the A’s lead in staff ERA at 3.21

Sabean even recently admitted that the Giants recent call-ups, Panik and Adam Duvall were not ready for the big leagues. Why is it then, that he did not add more to the team in the offseason?

Angel Pagan missed half of the season last year. No insurance. Guess who’s hurt again this season? Marco Scutaro is injured. No Insurance. Even if Scutaro wasn’t hurt, how much would the aging second baseman be be contributing? More than Brandon Hicks has? Possibly, but that’s not asking much.

The tectonic plates in the Bay Area are shifting again, but don’t fret. The Athletics are just changing the landscape of Bay Area baseball.

Again, you can blame Angel Hernandez if you want, but it’s hard to win 2 games when you only score 1 run total.