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Umpire Bill Miller during a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Tampa Bay Rays in San Francisco, Aug. 14, 2023. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A massive heat wave fell on the Phoenix area for the final week of Cactus League, pushing start times to the evening and fans into the shady areas.
Perhaps the sweltering sun prompted umpire Bill Miller, a longtime MLB ump manning home plate, to beg for an ABS (automated ball-strike system) reversal that might speed up Saturday afternoon's game between the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians.
Miller's hot weather plea was caught on a hot mic. He called a ball on Robbie Ray's 0-2 fastball to Cleveland's Alex Mooney on the lower half of the zone with two outs and the Giants up three in the fourth inning.
Giants catcher Patrick Bailey challenged the call with a helmet tap; a successful challenge would have ended the inning. After Miller announced the challenge to the crowd, the microphone caught him saying "please be a strike."
Miller's call was correct with ABS determining it landed 0.3 inches out of the zone, therefore extending the inning.
The ABS system is making its major league debut this season. It already added a fun dynamic to spring games and it'll be worth watching how players deploy a strategy for when and how to challenge a call. Each team gets two to work with, and loses one with an unsuccessful challenge.
This article originally published at Ump caught on hot mic after Giants' Patrick Bailey's challenge: ‘Please be a strike'.
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