Another night at the ballpark, another game decided by a blown call. And not just any blown call—this was a heartbreaker, the kind that leaves fans throwing their hands up and muttering, “Are you serious right now?” under their breath. Or louder. It depends on how much beer is involved.
Let’s set the scene: it’s the bottom of the ninth, two outs, a tight 1-0 ballgame between the Los Angeles Angels and the ever-formidable New York Yankees. And the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Logan O’Hoppe, the Angels’ designated hitter, was grinding through a 2-2 count against Mark Leiter Jr. The tension ever-increasing right up until bam—curveball low and outside, nowhere near the zone.
But guess what? Home plate umpire Ben May decided, “Nah, that’s a strike,” and rung him up like he was wrapping up a sale at Target. Game over. Crowd stunned. Dugout fuming. Angels walking off the field with a fat L, not because they were outplayed, but because a human made a judgment call that was, to put it lightly, questionable.
Check it out for yourself:
A Critical Moment, Crushed by One Call
This call wasn’t just a missed strike zone in the third inning of a forgettable matchup. No, this was the moment. The ninth inning. Two outs. A runner on first. A batter fighting tooth and nail in the count. One more ball and the tying run is on second; the go-ahead run comes to the plate. It’s precisely the kind of high-stakes moment that baseball lives for. And in the blink of an eye, it vanished—swiped off the board by a call that shouldn’t have stood.
Sure, umpires miss calls all the time. That’s baseball, right? But when a single mistake ends a game, especially one this close, it’s not just frustrating—it’s infuriating. Fans and players were robbed of the natural ending that should have unfolded. No walk. No full count. No rally. Just a gut punch from 60 feet, 6 inches away.
Why the ABS Challenge System Matters
This is exactly why the Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system isn’t just a novelty—it’s a necessity. The technology is already here. The minor leagues are testing it. The broadcast feeds already have virtual strike zones that show everyone at home how far off the plate that last pitch was. So why are we still relying on human eyes alone to make perfect calls in the most imperfect circumstances?
If the ABS system had been in place last night, the Angels could’ve challenged the call, and within seconds, O’Hoppe would’ve gotten ball three. We’d have seen a 3-2 count, not a game-ending strikeout. That one tool could’ve changed the entire ending. Instead, what we got was a very public example of the current system’s failure—and that should set off alarms from Anaheim to the Commissioner’s office.
It’s Time to Stop Pretending This Is Okay
Look, nobody’s asking to erase the role of umpires. We’re not talking about robot overlords calling every pitch. We’re talking about giving teams a few chances per game to correct egregious mistakes. Because last night wasn’t just a miscue—it was a derailment. It was a close game hijacked by a decision that everyone knew was wrong the second it happened.
So here’s the ask: bring in the ABS challenge system. Make it standard. Let’s stop pretending these endings are acceptable. Until we do, we’ll continue to watch incredible efforts end in anticlimax, not because the better team won but because someone behind the plate made a wrong call. And that’s not just bad baseball—that’s bad for baseball.
