The latest update from Major League Baseball left a coach short-circuited during Sunday’s game between the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles.
Twins manager Derek Shelton was removed from the game after losing his cool with the umpires when one of his players was denied a base under the new pitch challenge technology, the Automated Ball-Strike system.
MLB officially debuted ABS during Wednesday’s season opener, introducing a long-discussed program that allows players to contest home plate calls using 12 computerized cameras that analyze the strike zone.
The Twins trailed by two runs with two men on base and only one out when Orioles pitcher Ryan Helsley walked first baseman Josh Bell. But Helsley tapped his head to summon the ‘robo umpire’ to review the throw, which showed it had just crossed the edge of the strike zone.
With the Twins denied the opportunity to load the bases, Shelton stormed out of the dugout to argue with the umpires.
“Derrick Shelton got kicked out! He’s fighting with the robots! You can’t beat the robots!” broadcaster Kevin Brown shouted after the referees decided they had had enough of Shelton’s anger.
Apparently, Shelton wasn’t upset about the computers’ call, but about whether the Orioles pitcher had asked for the challenge quickly enough.
‘I thought Helsley didn’t tip his hat fast enough’ Shelton told The Atlantic. “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. But I didn’t feel like he did.”
Online, sports fans raved about the extra drama the challenge system had caused.
“WE HAD OUR FIRST EVER ABS RAGE BAIT EJECTION,” one X user posted.
“I have no idea if MLB realized what this would do to the fan experience, but they certainly hit the jackpot,” he says. another wrote.
ABS has already revealed some interesting data about umpires, the most polarizing men on the baseball field. Pitching analytics company Codify Baseball the challenges broken down and found that the MLB’s 10 oldest umpires had an average of 69%, while the 10 youngest umpires’ reversal rate was 39%.
