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Jeff McNeil made clever move to force White Sox to burn a challenge
by Grey Papke
Athletics infielder Jeff McNeil made a sportsmanlike move against the Chicago White Sox on Friday that ultimately had some ulterior motives behind it.
McNeil was batting in the fourth inning of Friday’s game at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Ca. and took a pitch low for ball two. Chicago catcher Edgar Quero tried to challenge the call, but home plate umpire Chad Fairchild did not notice.
McNeil did. He was also aware that the pitch was low, and that the White Sox would lose the challenge, so he alerted Fairchild to the challenge. The challenge was granted, and as McNeil expected, the White Sox lost it.
Insanely heads up play by Jeff McNeil here
Caught the catcher trying to challenge an obvious ball that the umpire missed.
Call was eventually upheld, and the White Sox lost a challenge pic.twitter.com/pLvcUQeJ8z
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) April 18, 2026
The ABS system has worked well, though it has the occasional foible. This is another example of the process being a little bit weird, but players and umpires should probably be a bit suspicious when an opponent is advocating for the other team to get a challenge.
Ultimately, the blunder did not wind up making a difference for the White Sox, who went on to win 9-2.
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