US News Metro Long Island Politics

Sports NFL MLB Olympics NBA NHL College Football College Basketball WNBA

Business Personal Finance

Entertainment TV Movies Music Celebrities Awards Theater

Lifestyle Weird But True Sex & Relationships Viral Trends Human Interest Parenting Fashion & Beauty Food & Drink Travel

Health Wellness Fitness Health Care Medicine Men’s Health Women’s Health Mental Health Nutrition

Science Space Environment Wildlife Archaeology

Today’s Paper Covers Columnists Horoscopes Crosswords & Games Sports Odds Podcasts Careers

Email Newsletters Official Store Home Delivery Tips

Switch between CA and NY editions here.

Dodgers inaugurate ABS era — much to fans’ surprise and delight

World Series MVP and Cy Young contender Yoshinobu Yamamoto received a hero’s welcome as he took the mound for the Dodgers on Opening Day. But then something new and extraordinary happened.

After Yamamoto struck out the first batter, he faced Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll, and threw a pitch that was called a strike at the very top of the zone.Carroll didn’t hesitate. He tapped his helmet to challenge.And just like that, everything stopped.Over 54,000 fans in attendance at the sold-out game went quiet and turned toward the video boards. Fans leaned toward each other, pointing, asking the same question: What’s going on?Seconds later, the answer came.A computer-generated strike zone appeared on the screen, showing the pitch just above the upper boundary. The call was overturned — strike became ball — and play resumed.No argument. No delay. No theatrics.Just correction.And the reaction was telling. After a moment of confusion, the crowd settled immediately. If anything, people seemed impressed.This was the Dodgers’ first in-stadium look at Major League Baseball’s new strike zone challenge system, the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS).The Dodgers went on to obliterate the Diamondbacks in a lopsided 8-2 win.

But the ABS was also a big winner.

For decades, baseball has lived with a built-in flaw: the most important calls in the game — balls and strikes — were also........

© New York Post