Frank Viola is the first person in baseball history to be ejected for arguing the strike zone with a robot umpire.
No joke. Viola is the pitching coach for the High Point Rockers in the Atlantic Coast League, which is serving as a testing ground for automated strike zones. Needless to say, the ex-Twins ace didn’t agree with the computer, as evidenced with his reaction in the video below.
According to MSN, the Atlantic Coast League is using an electronic strike zone called TrackMan, but the home plate umpire has the right to overrule the computer’s decision – and that’s what set Viola’s hair on fire.
Viola later tweeted that nobody told him who was in charge, the umpire or the electronic strike zone.
1st time use of trackman with @RockersBaseball at York tonight. Got myself tossed in the 1st. Problem was was it trackman, or was it human strike zone?! That was problem. Who or what was in charge?? Major problem. Let each team know at all times what’s going on…
— Frank J. Viola, Jr. (@FrankViola16) July 13, 2019
Somehow… my hubby Frank Viola @FrankViola16 being the first ejection due to Trackman in @AtlanticLg history does not surprise me LOL 😂 @RockersBaseball https://t.co/5GcTZ10zJQ
— Kathy Viola (@MommaV16) July 13, 2019
Ballpark Digest reported in May that Major League Baseball inked a three-year agreement with the Atlantic Coast League to test the robot umps and other rule changes under consideration.
Viola played for the Twins from 1982-89, helping the Twins win the 1987 World Series. He went on to pitch for the Mets, Red Sox, Reds and Blue Jays during his 15-year career.
