YORK, Pa. — During the second inning of Wednesday night’s Atlantic League All-Star Game, Joe Van Meter’s two-strike fastball to Joey Terdoslavich sunk low into the catcher’s mitt and was caught just barely above the ground. The pitch looked low not only to the hitter but also to the umpire, who nevertheless signaled strike three—but it wasn’t exactly his call.
Terdoslavich did a double take, glancing back at home-plate umpire Brian deBrauwere with a look of disbelief. deBrauwere, however, merely pointed to the AirPod in his right ear, his way of reminder the batter that the call came from TrackMan, the 3-D Doppler radar hanging from the roof of the ballpark.