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MLB MLB's ABS System Billy Martin's colorful managerial career included many a dust-up with the umpire. Getty Images If only to fend off the OK Boomer Brigade, let’s get this right out of the way: I’m all in on MLB’s next big step to improve the manner in which games are officiated. As we’ve learned from years of minor-league and spring training trial runs, the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System isn’t going to lead to night after night of games being brought to a grinding halt, and that’s as important as “getting the call right. ” Advertisement So, sure, bring it on. Just as the late 20th century gave us the wave, we’re about to enter an era of fans tapping themselves on their heads every time they disagree with a ball/strike call. But we do lose a little of the human element whenever the next new gizmo is added to sports. We can all agree, then, that ABS is another sign that we’re moving ever closer to the Big Adios for those epic manager-umpire brouhahas that have been a part of the game since the days of the Troy Trojans and Worcester Ruby Legs. Ever hear of Leo Durocher? Not for nothing was the Hall of Fame manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros called “The Lip. ” Durocher also did some acting in his day, and, playing himself in a 1963 episode of the sitcom “Mr. Ed, ” said, “Look, mister, I can’t bother with you. I gotta go kill me an umpire. ” Earl Weaver, the ever-over-boiling teapot of a manager of the Baltimore Orioles, once directed a profanity-laden tirade at umpire Bill Haller that’ll live forever on You Tube. Lou Piniella, who managed the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Cubs, was the all-time best at dislodging bases and throwing them into the outfield. Managerial meltdowns won’t completely go away, of course. But the ABS challenge system is another indicator we’re not going to see as many of them. Thankfully, we still have Yankees manager Aaron Boone and his flair for the outrageous. As a third-generation big-leaguer, it’s probably in his DNA. Former MLB umpire Dale Scott, who has signed on with MLB Network as an “umpire analyst” and will be working Wednesday night’s Yankees-Giants 2026 season opener at San Francisco’s Oracle Park for Netflix, is in the camp that believes managers and umpires will forever find ways to go at each other’s throats. But maybe not as colorfully as in days of old. Advertisement “I’m not going to say you won’t see any, because you’ll still see plenty of them, ” Scott said. “But with this challenge system, when a guy thinks on a big pitch he got screwed or something, the challenge is going to correct that if it was an incorrect call. ” During my own days as a beat writer, Scott was one of the umpires in the biggest — and, I guess, the best — managerial tirade I ever covered. And it was literally a dust-up, with Yankees manager Billy Martin kicking and throwing dirt at Scott after being ejected in the third inning of a May 30, 1988, game between the Yankees and Oakland A’s at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The incident did not involve a ball/strike call but a line drive by the A’s Walt Weiss to second baseman Bobby Meacham that was ruled a trap by first base umpire Rick Reed. But Martin directed his venom at Scott, the second base umpire, who, the manager believed, had seen what “really” happened and should have stepped in. To add to the festivities, it was Memorial Day, and the game was televised nationally. Scott was just 28 at the time, in his third season as a big-league umpire, and it was the first time he was involved in one of these hardball carnival acts. Martin was suspended for three games and fined $1, 000. About three weeks later, he was fired by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Martin never managed again. Scott, then, goes into the books as the last umpire to run Billy Martin. “I wouldn’t say it was fun at the time, but I look back at it now, and it truly is amazing to me, it was almost 40 years ago, ” Scott said. “Time heals those anxiety attacks from when they were happening. There’s some fondness now, but at the time, it was a big deal. “We don’t like to be the story any time you’re caught up in something that is more than a night at the ballpark. But now I can look at it as just one of many situations I was in over 32 years as a big-league umpire. ” Had a review system been in place 38 years ago, Martin surely would have challenged Reed’s call. Reed — and Scott — would have been able to stand idly by while crew chief Richie Garcia awaited the review from MLB. Whatever their decision, Martin would not have thrown or kicked dirt on Scott. Who knows: Absent the three-game suspension, Martin might have served out the season as manager of the Yankees. And so it will be with MLB’s vaunted ABS challenge system. All it’ll take is for the catcher, batter or pitcher to tap the top of his noggin to get a questionable ball/strike placed under a microscope for review. And all will be right in the baseball world. But a little less fiery. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Steve Buckley is a columnist for The Athletic. He was previously a sports columnist for the Boston Herald and The National Sports Daily. Earlier stops include covering baseball for the Hartford Courant, Tacoma News Tribune and Portland (Maine) Press Herald. Follow Steve on Twitter @Buckin Boston