The Dan Patrick Show: C&R – “ABSolutely the Future of Baseball?”

Date: April 1, 2026
Hosts: Steve Covino & Rich Davis
Network: iHeartPodcasts and Dan Patrick Podcast Network

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into one of the hottest debates in baseball: the adoption of the Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) system and its impact on the role of human umpires. Steve Covino and Rich Davis tackle the human vs. tech argument, discuss recent on-field incidents, explore changing strategies, and take listener calls on whether the tradition of the home plate umpire still belongs in the modern game. The conversation is authentic, funny, and laced with nostalgia and genuinely engaging analogies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of Baseball: Recapping Recent Games

• The episode opens with casual banter and an update on the baseball season–no undefeated teams remain (04:13), and amusing commentary on fan life as Covino recalls falling asleep during a Dodgers shutout (04:54).
• The importance of unpredictability in baseball—and the “that’s baseball!” ethos—as the hosts reflect on how quickly things can turn in a single game.

2. The Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) System: Firsthand Experiences

• Steve Covino shares watching the Yankees game where the new ABS system was put to serious use–with the Yankees going 5-for-5 on challenges (07:37).
  • Quote: “Throughout the game, the ABS system was put to use, bro. Yanks were 5 for 5. Did you see that? Like, it was put to use and it was like a grain of rice, as they say… Calls were turned over. I’m sitting there like, man, I don’t know how I feel about this because it really could change the outcome of a game." (07:37)
• The intricacies of close pitches being overturned, and how ABS introduces unpredictability and stress—even in early-season, low-stakes games.
• Covino’s girlfriend, a casual fan, poses a crucial question: “Why do they even have umpires? What’s the point then?” (10:58)

3. Questioning the Umpire’s Role

• The hosts ask: If ABS can get it right faster and more accurately, why keep the human ump?
• Rich likens the situation to self-checkout at a supermarket—nostalgic reluctance to pull the plug on traditional jobs even if the tech works better (14:01).
  • Quote: “You’re gonna opt for self checkout, but you’re like, ‘Oh, look, there’s a couple people in their retirement jobs. I don’t want Bob and Cindy’s jobs to go away.’” (14:01)
• Dan Byers and callers argue that umpires are still needed for:
  • Safe/out calls at home,
  • Obstruction, interference,
  • Keeping the flow of the game,
  • Handling disputes and the ‘crew chief’ function (19:24, 34:00, 37:34).

4. The Human Element: Nostalgia, Theater, and Transition

• Covino and Rich explore whether keeping umpires is about preserving the “illusion” of tradition—a field marshal “for the theatrics” rather than necessity (10:50, 14:39, 26:26).
• Nostalgic fans recall the drama of manager-umpire blowups, the signature strike-three calls, and the game’s personality (33:35, 39:01).
  • Quote: “Sometimes you like a good baseball fight and an ejection and these things.” (33:47)
• Rich offers a poignant analogy: keeping the umpire is like keeping a late pet’s food bowl—“We’re not ready to say goodbye to umpires because there’s a part of us that’s like, yeah, but it’s part of the game.” (34:00)

5. Evolving Strategies: ABS Changes the Game

• ABS is not just about “getting it right” but impacts how teams use strategy—debate over when to challenge, especially for the first pitch to get into a hitter’s count (18:14).
  • Quote: “Like the best counts to challenge to put yourself in a better hitting situation?” (18:04)
• Insights into the tiny margins where calls are overturned—most decisions are on the razor’s edge, not egregious errors (20:32, 21:02).
  • Data shows most overturned calls are within millimeters—was the system meant to split grains of rice, or just correct the obvious misses?

6. The Real Future: Fewer Umpires or Just a Slow Goodbye?

• Discussion turns to whether eventually ABS will replace most umpires, and if we’re just “soft-launching” the tech to avoid backlash (19:56, 26:26, 35:08).
• Recognition that umps may remain as administrators or field officials for logistical reasons, not for calling balls and strikes (34:00, 34:13).
• Comedy and analogies lighten the mood—the slow fade-out of umpires likened to fading roles at work or outdated phone numbers nobody wants to delete (36:14).

7. Broader Lessons: Tech, AI, and the Changing World

• The episode resonates beyond sports, with the ABS debate echoing larger anxieties about AI and automation:
  • Broadcast and design jobs vanishing,
  • The need for a “human checker” even when AI works,
  • How hard it is for people to accept cultural change (16:21, 36:14).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Covino (on ABS anxiety):
  “I don’t know how I feel about this because it really could change the outcome of a game.” (07:37)

• Covino’s girlfriend:
  “Why do they even have umpires? What’s the point then?” (10:58)

• Rich (analogy):
  “We’re not ready to say goodbye to umpires because there’s a part of us that’s like, yeah, but it’s like, part of the game… The minute we think about the umpires, it’s officially robots.” (34:00)

• Dan Byers (on practical need):
  “You would still probably need a person at that spot for those sort of plays. Bunts down the line, fair/foul…” (19:24)

• Rich (on strategy):
  “It’s not just save it for three-two runners on base, bottom of the seventh...” (19:04)

• Covino (on nostalgia and transition):
  “They were the guys that made the call. Now it’s like they have no power. They have to go home to their wife all defeated…” (39:41)

Key Timestamps

05:14 – Recap of recent baseball games and why “that’s baseball” keeps things unpredictable
07:37 – Covino on seeing ABS used five times in Yankees game, initial skepticism
09:02 – Dan Byers introduces “D minus Buckner,” recent umpire errors
10:31 – Covino’s girlfriend’s casual question: “Why do they even have umpires?”
14:01 – Rich’s supermarket self-checkout analogy
17:30 – Aaron Boone on shifting from resistance to strategizing around ABS
18:04 – Discussing when to challenge via ABS for optimal advantage
19:24 – Dan Byers: Umpires needed for other plays, not just balls/strikes
20:32 – Covino and Rich: Most overturned calls are extremely close
26:26 – Field umpires as “administrators” in the future
34:00 – Rich’s analogy: Not being ready to “say goodbye” to umpires
36:14 – Letting go of traditions—phone numbers and umpires
39:41 – “They were the guys that made the call. Now they have no power.”
50:00 – Recap and reminder: this is a slow adjustment for everyone

Wrap-Up & Takeaways

Is ABS absolutely the future?
The hosts (and audience) agree on the efficiency and accuracy ABS brings, but there’s clearly more at stake than just technology—tradition, job roles, the theater of sport, and the slow human adjustment to change.

Baseball’s “slow goodbye” to umpires echoes society’s broader friction with automation. Umpires may remain for now, sometimes out of sentimentality or optics, sometimes practicality, but their days as the arbiters of balls and strikes seem numbered. Still, as Covino and Rich underscore—letting go, even if ABS is ABSolutely the future, is much harder in practice than on paper.

Recommended for listeners who:

• Love baseball, nostalgia, and lively sports banter
• Are curious about how technology is remaking their favorite pastimes
• Appreciate clever analogies, audience interaction, and real-life examples of societal change

Full discussion and more on Covino & Rich, weekdays on Fox Sports Radio and iHeartRadio.