{"id":38,"date":"2026-08-21T07:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/fair-is-foul-when-it-behooves-the-yankees\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:15:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T19:15:52","slug":"fair-is-foul-when-it-behooves-the-yankees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/fair-is-foul-when-it-behooves-the-yankees\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair is foul when it behooves the Yankees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MIKE BURKE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allegany Communications Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just add Pete Alonso\u2019s name to the victims list of Orioles Hosings at the Hands of the Yankees lore along with Tony Tarasco\u2019s and Nate McLouth\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then add Will Little\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a fascinating day of baseball, beginning with the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seconds after Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was awoken, the umpires called for a crew chief\u2019s challenge and sent the play to New York, from where, not surprisingly, MLB Replay Center issued an in-game statement that said, \u201cAfter 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou definitely never know what they\u2019re going to rule, but I was really surprised that it came back \u2018stands\u2019.\u201d Albernaz said. \u201cOn the dugout iPads there\u2019s ball-tracking data with the field that the players see, so it\u2019s really tough to have that come back as stands and have that visual in the dugout, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t understand why we don\u2019t do it, but it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a pretty good look at it. It\u2019s tough for the umpire down the third base line, the way he\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, it\u2019s not why the Orioles lost the game, but it was certainly a contributing factor to their losing the game \u2013 the go-ahead run was never allowed to be counted. So who\u2019s to say with the Orioles up 4-3 what the next Orioles hitter would have done? Who\u2019s to say the Orioles would have gifted the Yankees two runs in the top of the eighth? Well \u2026 that would have been a fairly sage thing to say (see should-be-third-baseman Gunnar Henderson\u2019s latest error Thursday night), but as Earl Weaver always preached, \u201cEverything affects everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s dugout and to challenge balls and strikes, so why on earth can\u2019t MLB use it to determine a fair or foul ball on a replay challenge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause it would cost money,\u201d said Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt, one of the leading voices in the Players Association. \u201cThat\u2019s it. I mean, that\u2019s literally it. You ask every fan of this game, that\u2019s 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\u2019s it. That\u2019s literally it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it would cost the New York Yankees some very big wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As George Santayana wrote, \u201cThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 30 years, Orioles fans have been condemned for remembering the past, because the empty suits at MLB continue to repeat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the Yankees, stupid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began. covering sports for the Prince George\u2019s 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<\/a>. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Just add Pete Alonso\u2019s name to the victims list of Orioles Hosings at the Hands of the Yankees lore along with Tony Tarasco\u2019s and Nate McLouth\u2019s. Then add Will Little\u2019s name to the perps log that is headed by the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allegany-communications-sports-w-mike-burke","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio.wvrcdev.com\/cumberlandsmagic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}