Former MLB pitcher Frank Viola will always be remembered for his time in the major leagues and his 1988 AL Cy Young Award, but now the pitching coach of the High Point Rockies will also be remembered for another milestone in baseball. He will go down in history as the first coach to get ejected from a game for arguing with a robot.
The robot, also known as the Trackman system, was installed as part of a three-year test deal with the MLB, and are supposed to help bring more accuracy and impartiality to the game. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with every call they make.
For Viola, things came to a head on July 12, when he objected to the robot’s ‘automated strike zone.’ in the very first inning of the very first game where the robots were in use. When Viola tried to go over the robot’s head to a human umpire, things devolved and he found himself booted from the game.
Source: CBS SPorts