Orioles' Chris Bassitt rips MLB, shares theory about potential Pete Alonso go-ahead home run

Shortly after the Baltimore Orioles suffered a 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, Baltimore slugger Pete Alonso suggested that having additional camera angles could have helped to better determine whether the ball he hit in the bottom of the seventh inning was foul or fair. 

Following the game, Orioles starting pitcher and MLB Players Association executive subcommittee member Chris Bassitt ripped the league for not having what he feels is adequate technology in place to review such decisions. 

Chris Bassitt: MLB is too cheap to ensure calls are right

"Because it would cost money," Bassitt said about why MLB hasn't yet invested in equipment used by other sports for reviews, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun. "That’s it. I mean, that’s literally it. You ask every fan of this game, that’s a true fan, every single fan would want those cameras. If you ask every single player, they would want those cameras. If you ask every coach, they want the cameras. It costs money. That’s it. That’s literally it."

Certain angles seemed to show that Alonso hit a home run over the left-field foul pole that would have handed the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Instead, third base umpire Will Little called the ball foul, and his decision was upheld after a lengthy review. 

"After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory,"  MLB's Replay Command Center said about the play in question via a statement shared by Phillip Martinez of SNY. "The call stands, and it is a foul ball."

Alonso ultimately struck out swinging, and the Yankees then scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning. The loss dropped Baltimore to 61-66, and the O's entered Thursday 1.5 games back in the battle for the American League's final wild-card playoff spot. 

Chris Bassitt: "It's crazy" that MLB doesn't use better technology for certain calls

"Yeah, obviously, I think it was fair," Bassitt added about the Alonso fly ball. "It’s just crazy that we still have this issue. I think we might be the only major sport with an issue like this. It’s been years that we have technology that we can easily use to say this is exactly the right thing or wrong thing, and the fact that we don’t have it in 2026 is crazy. That’s my take. ...It’s just the fact that we don’t have the technology in place to actually say, 'Hey, this was fair or foul,' is literally crazy in 2026. It’s crazy."

It sounds like MLB team owners and the MLBPA may have something new to fight about this coming winter during what could be a lengthy work stoppage.