It was going to happen sooner or later, but this soon?
Less than a week after "robot umpires" were introduced for calling balls and strikes in the Atlantic League, an independent baseball minor league, there was an ejection over disagreeing with the automated system.
The person ejected was former Twins pitcher Frank Viola, who is the pitching coach of the High Point Rockers.
Viola was annoyed that the umpire working at home plate, who has the authority to overrule the system, didn't do so on several of the pitches.
Mark Powell described the scene that followed in a blog post on MSN sports. The website Close Calls Sports, which describes itself as a website that "objectively tracks and analyzes close and controversial calls in sport, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game," went deeper into the subject — and showed a graphic that reinforced Viola's displeasure.
HOWARD SINKER
