In the 1992 movie Mr Baseball, aging slugger Jack Elliot (portrayed by Tom Selleck) lived by a simple mantra: “Baseball is a game. And games are supposed to be fun.” On the big screen, that belief ultimately helped the fictional Elliot overcome his own bad habits and imperfections. Twenty-four years later in real life, it is one reason that big leaguers like Toronto Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease appreciate the first season of MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike challenge system.
“I think it’s entertaining,” Cease said at Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game press conference. “I like it when it goes my way, and I don’t like it when it doesn’t. I think it’s entertaining, and it’s just one of those where I’ve kind of just accepted it is what it is, and I thought it’s been kind of nice.” At the unofficial halfway mark of the first season of ABS implementation, Cease’s sentiments were echoed by most players attending the Summer Classic. It wasn’t just that they appreciated what the system added in terms of correcting mistakes. They also ?acknowledged the new competitive wrinkles it added that perhaps hadn’t been appreciated beforehand. For starters, each team’s two incorrect challenges per game have become precious commodities. Lose them and your team is at a decided disadvantage.