CC Sabathia has extremely fitting reaction to controversial end of Team USA's WBC win

When Major League Baseball implemented the pitch clock back in 2023, one concern that many baseball fans shared was that a game would end in the most anticlimactic fashion -- with a pitch clock violation that walks in the winning run. But surely that would never happen, right? Truly, what are the chances?

Well, regardless of the odds, it happened. On June 22, 2024, the year after the pitch clock's inaugural season, the Colorado Rockies defeated the Washington Nationals on a pitch-clock violation. With the game tied a seven runs apiece and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ryan McMahon worked a full count against Nationals' closer Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan, who was an All-Star in 2024, waited too long to deliver his next pitch, was called for a pitch clock violation, McMahon drew a bases-loaded walk, and the Rockies won.

Now, with MLB's latest rule change -- the implementation of the Automatic Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System -- there's a new fear among the baseball purists. Now that batters, pitchers, and catchers can challenge a ball or strike call, what if a team loses on a challenged call? Or what if a team is out of challenges in the ninth inning and an egregiously bad call is made, but the batter can do nothing about it?

The latter of the two situations essentially played out during last night's World Baseball Classic semifinal between Team USA and the Dominican Republic. With a narrow 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Team USA called upon the flame-throwing Mason Miller to close out the game. Miller walked the second batter he faced, Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodríguez, and, after a wild pitch and a ground out, allowed him to reach third base. With two outs and the tying run 90 feet from home plate, Arizona Diamondbacks' shortstop Geraldo Perdomo stepped up to the plate.

Perdomo, who is never an easy out, worked a full count after getting behind early in the at-bat. After fouling away two pitches to keep the game alive, Miller spun a slider that landed well below the strike zone, but home plate umpire Cory Blazer rung up Perdomo and Team USA celebrated the victory.

Here's the issue: the ABS system isn't being used in the WBC this year, similar to how the pitch clock wasn't implemented during the 2023 WBC before MLB added it for the 2023 regular season. Immediately after the game ended, fans started calling for ABS to be added to the WBC, noting how the outcome would have been different if Perdomo had the ability to challenge the final call. But it wasn't just fans who were calling for the WBC's adoption of the ABS system -- former players were weighing in on the situation as well.

Should the ABS Challenge System be added to the World Baseball Classic? CC Sabathia thinks so

Shortly after Blazer's missed call, Milwaukee Brewers legend, CC Sabathia, took to social media to share his opinion on the situation. Sabathia was as short and to the point as one could be, posting the following image on his Instagram story, which was reposted on X by Adam Weinrib of The Baseball Insiders and YanksGoYard.com.

"ABS." That was all Sabathia had to say on the matter. His call for the WBC to adopt the ABS system was echoed throughout the baseball world. However, while Sabathia is in favor of pitchers, batters, and catchers being able to challenge calls from the home plate umpire, those feelings aren't necessarily universal throughout the league. Take, for example, San Diego Padres pitcher Walker Buehler, who voiced his displeasure with the ABS system as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies last year.

There are bound to be some growing pains with ABS, just as there were with the pitch clock. However, just three years removed from the introduction of the pitch clock, very few baseball fans are against it, and that widespread support was not present at the technology's inception. Will the same happen with ABS? Possibly, but at least one thing is undeniable: Brewers legend CC Sabathia is a fan.