MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Just add Pete Alonso’s name to the victims list of Orioles Hosings at the Hands of the Yankees lore along with Tony Tarasco’s and Nate McLouth’s.
Then add Will Little’s name to the perps log that is headed by the gutless Rich Garcia and Fieldin Culbreth, and be sure to leave the docket open, for as long as there are Yankee pinstripes there will be room for more names. Major League Baseball will see to that.
On a fascinating day of baseball, beginning with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ remarkable 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers Wednesday afternoon, the Orioles and the Yankees were going toe-to-toe that evening when Alonso crushed a Brent Headrick pitch over and just inside the left-field fair pole that would have given the Orioles a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning had third-base umpire Little not ruled it to be a foul ball.
Seconds after Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was awoken, the umpires called for a crew chief’s challenge and sent the play to New York, from where, not surprisingly, MLB Replay Center issued an in-game statement that said, “After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory. The call stands, and it is a foul ball.”
Translation: Not on us. The umpire blew the call, just as second-base umpire Nic Lentz did when the Orioles were hosed on the baseline fiasco in Toronto.
Thus, Headrick bounced back to strike out Alonso to end the inning tied and, naturally, New York rallied for a pair of runs the next half-inning without getting a ball out of the infield (which is so 2026 Orioles), and Baltimore was saddled with a 5-3 loss that could have been avoided.
“You definitely never know what they’re going to rule, but I was really surprised that it came back ‘stands’.” Albernaz said. “On the dugout iPads there’s ball-tracking data with the field that the players see, so it’s really tough to have that come back as stands and have that visual in the dugout, as well.
“It’s 2026. I think technology is advanced pretty good. There are teams using AI on the iPads and other sports use ball-tracking data for challengeable calls. Don’t understand why we don’t do it, but it’s not why we lost the game. But I think that moment was a big moment, especially because it takes a home run from us and Pete, as well.
“I had a pretty good look at it. It’s tough for the umpire down the third base line, the way he’s looking and going over the foul pole, but I think when it goes to review and look at all the angles and video and especially the ball-tracking data, yeah, pretty disappointing.”
No, it’s not why the Orioles lost the game, but it was certainly a contributing factor to their losing the game – the go-ahead run was never allowed to be counted. So who’s to say with the Orioles up 4-3 what the next Orioles hitter would have done? Who’s to say the Orioles would have gifted the Yankees two runs in the top of the eighth? Well … that would have been a fairly sage thing to say (see should-be-third-baseman Gunnar Henderson’s latest error Thursday night), but as Earl Weaver always preached, “Everything affects everything.”
Momentum is real in this game. And it felt like that moment took a game from moving in one direction and helped veer it in a completely different direction.
Albernaz does have a valid point (it happens) about the technology. The NFL uses it in-game to determine first downs and touchdowns, tennis uses it to determine line calls, none other than Major League Baseball uses it in every team’s dugout and to challenge balls and strikes, so why on earth can’t MLB use it to determine a fair or foul ball on a replay challenge?
“Because it would cost money,” said Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt, one of the leading voices in the Players Association. “That’s it. I mean, that’s literally it. You ask every fan of this game, that’s a true fan, every single fan would want those cameras. If you ask every single player, they would want those cameras. If you ask every coach, they want the cameras. It costs money. That’s it. That’s literally it.”
And it would cost the New York Yankees some very big wins.
As George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
For 30 years, Orioles fans have been condemned for remembering the past, because the empty suits at MLB continue to repeat it.
It’s the Yankees, stupid.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began. covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at mikeburke934@gmail.com. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT