Umpire Angel Hernandez became a "referee in football getting in the scrum" Wednesday night when, in the top of the 11th inning of Game 3 of the Orioles-Yankees ALDS, New York right fielder Nick Swisher attempted to catch a foul fly ball off the bat of Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy.
As Swisher fell into the right field seating area, RF Umpire Hernandez rushed over and leaned into the seating bowl before correctly signaling "no catch," confident that Swisher had not caught the foul pop-up as TBS broadcaster Ernie Johnson quipped, "It wouldn't be the first time this year" that an umpire would have been deked into incorrectly calling a batter out on a boundary catch (had Hernandez made an out call).
Video: Hernandez leans into the stands to rule; in June, DiMuro reacts differently to a similar play (UEFL)
On June 26 of the 2012 season, 3B Umpire Mike DiMuro ejected Indians third baseman Jack Hannahan (Ejection 078: Mike DiMuro (2)) after DiMuro ruled Hannahan out on a boundary catch in left field involving Yankees left fielder Dewayne Wise, who was ruled to have caught a foul fly ball that replays indicate ended up in the hands of a fan several seats away from where DiMuro was still processing the play.
At the time, DiMuro said, "Now that I see the tape, it's obvious that the ball fell out of his glove. In hindsight, I should have asked [Wise] to show me the ball since he fell into the stands and out of my line of vision."
To his credit, Hernandez' hustle and patience indicates that MLB has learned from the DiMuro/Wise incident.