Pete Alonso’s Disputed Foul Call Highlights MLB’s Technology Gap

On August 19, 2026, the Orioles faced the Yankees at Camden Yards. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Orioles DH Pete Alonso hit a first-pitch slider deep to left-field. The ball cleared the wall and appeared to pass the foul pole, but third-base umpire Will Little called it foul. A crew-chief review was initiated and the call was upheld. The Yankees scored two runs in the eighth to win 5-3, leaving the Orioles’ potential go-ahead run uncounted.

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MLB’s replay system requires “two camera angles to confirm” a disputed home-run call. In this case only one clear line-down-the-pole view existed; other angles showed the ball on opposite sides of the pole, and the Replay Center could not definitively determine the trajectory. While the league uses Hawk-Eye for automated ball-strike and provides Statcast data on dugout iPads, that technology does not extend to precise fair-or-foul determinations above the pole.

Fair or foul? Here’s everything to know about the Pete Alonso non-homer. Bleacher ReportUSA TodayThe Sporting NewsWRALBoone’s ‘Sorry, Pete’ line follows unusual Yankees postgame check on Alonso’s disputed HR

• Final score: Yankees 5, Orioles 3.

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• Alonso’s season totals: 30 home runs.

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• Orioles’ wild-card position after the loss: 1½ games behind the lead, 61-66 record.

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• The disputed ball was struck with two outs and the bases empty.

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Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said the team’s iPad ball-tracking data indicated the ball was fair and expressed frustration that the call stood despite “technology… advanced pretty good” in 2026. Yankees manager Aaron Boone accepted the foul ruling, noting his replay coordinator reviewed the play after the game. Pitcher Chris Bassitt, speaking for the MLB Players Association, called the lack of decisive technology “literally crazy” and blamed cost constraints for the league’s inaction.

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Several Orioles figures argued that the league’s failure to install additional pole-line cameras or laser systems is a cost-driven decision that undermines competitive fairness. Bassitt said the only barrier is money, while Alonso and Albernaz advocated for a “simple fix” modeled on football’s pylon-camera system.

Fair or foul? Here’s everything to know about the Pete Alonso non-homer.

Camera footage from the first-base dugout showed the ball on the fair side of the pole, whereas a down-the-line angle from near home plate suggested a foul trajectory. Statcast data, which loses accuracy beyond the infield, also conflicted with the visual evidence. Because MLB requires two confirming angles, replay officials declined to overturn the call, leaving the exact location of the ball at the pole unresolved.

Fair or foul? Here’s everything to know about the Pete Alonso non-homer. WRALBleacher ReportUSA TodayFanSidedHeavy

• “I think a simple fix is like football, you have the pylon camera with the plane, where it shoots right across the goal line,” — Pete Alonso

Orioles call for more technology after Pete Alonso's near-homer is ruled foul vs. Yankees

• “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 Center

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• “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,” — Chris Bassitt

Orioles call for more technology after Pete Alonso's near-homer is ruled foul vs. Yankees