Tech Glitches and Foul Poles: The Farce of the Modern Review

Listen, I've seen a lot of baseball, but we've reached a point where the gadgets are getting in the way of the game. We're supposed to be in the era of precision, yet we're still arguing over a ball hitting a pole like it's 1954.

Take Wednesday night in Baltimore, as CBS Sports first reported. The New York Yankees took down the Baltimore Orioles 5-3, but the real story was a seventh-inning disaster that should have been a simple home run. According to CBS Sports, Pete Alonso—who had already crushed his 29th homer of the year earlier in the game—sent a first-pitch slider from Brent Headrick deep to left field. To anyone watching, it looked like a go-ahead shot with the score tied at 3-3. But the crew chief review upheld a foul call, even though CBS Sports noted that broadcast replays appeared to show the ball on the fair side of the left-field foul pole. Even the Yankees' own broadcast agreed the ball looked fair.

**OPINION:** This is where the wheels fall off. We have all the bells and whistles in the world, but when a clear shot to the seats gets erased by a technicality or a lack of a better angle, it's a joke. The league loves to brag about its technology, but they're hiding behind it when it comes to actually getting the call right. If the eyes see it and the replay shows it, why are we still debating it?

Alonso didn't mince words after the game. Speaking via The Athletic, the slugger—who joined the Orioles this winter on a five-year free-agent deal—suggested the league look at football's pylon cameras. Alonso argued that with the current funds, analytics, and technology available, the league could easily implement a camera or laser shooting straight up to settle these disputes.

Orioles starter Chris Bassitt was just as incensed. Speaking via MASNSports.com, Bassitt called it "crazy" that MLB is potentially the only major sport still struggling with this issue in 2026. Bassitt noted that the technology to provide a definitive answer has existed for years, and the failure to implement it is absurd.

In the end, the Yankees found their way to a win anyway. CBS Sports reports that George Lombard Jr. hit an RBI single and a bases-loaded wild pitch from Yennier Cano helped the Yankees secure a two-run victory in the eighth. While the win keeps the Yankees in top wild-card position in the AL and five games behind the Rays in the AL East, the loss hurts Baltimore. The Orioles are now five games under .500 with a -31 run differential, sitting just a game and a half out of the final AL wild-card spot in a tight race featuring seven losing teams.