The days of the most egregious umpire calls in terms of balls and strikes seem to be coming to an end with the news that the ABS challenge system will be in place starting in 2026. After what has been a successful trial run in the minor leagues, players will be given the opportunity to challenge balls and strikes and with those challenges comes an added level of strategy to the game of baseball. For Atlanta Braves fans, this brave new world we are about to enter is an unfortunate reminder of one of the worst umpired games in baseball history.
There are several MLB umpires who were/are famously bad. Angel Hernandez was finally pushed out after a long career full of controversies and terrible calls. Joe West thankfully retired after decades of inserting himself into games unnecessarily seemingly just to put the spotlight on himself. CB Bucknor has been voted the worst umpire in baseball multiple times and is still gainfully employed and causing havoc. Hell, Chipper Jones still seems to hate Doug Eddings despite having been retired as a player for years. However, few umpires have ever risen to the level of the late Eric Gregg.
Gregg's umpiring behind the plate in Game 5 of the 1997 NLCS is widely considered to be the pinnacle of terrible umpiring as his strike zone appeared to be almost double what it should have been and made Livan Hernandez look superhuman. In an article published by Forbes, Terrence Moore looked back at the Gregg game as a cautionary tale that is not likely to repeat itself under the new system.
Horror shows like the Eric Gregg Game are set to be a thing of the past
Under the new system, each team will be given two challenges that can be used during the course of the game when it comes to balls and strikes. If a game goes to extra innings and a team has used both of their challenges, they get an additional challenge. If a challenge is successful, the challenging team keeps that challenge and it goes away if the call is confirmed. After that, it just comes down to the cameras and computers to determining if a pitch is a ball or a strike. It is honestly pretty straightforward even if the technology to make it happen is extremely complex.
Many have worried that the new system would completely remove the "human element" from the game and that just doesn't seem to be true. Pitchers, hitters, or catchers (the only ones that can challenge with no help from their coaches) are not likely to risk losing their challenges on pitches that are close. Instead, what the system will absolutely do is get rid of the egregious calls like many of those from Gregg in that fateful playoff game.
We are still going to see managers ejected over perceived blown calls including balls and strikes and there are still going to be slight differences that matter in how umpires call games that teams can take advantage of. What baseball loses are the games that completely change because an umpire is having a bad day/career or are being vindictive. As Braves fans can attest, those types of games being a relic of the past is for the best for everyone.