What can instantly make a whole fanbase furious? A single overturned inning or a lost game. That’s all it’ll take! On April 13th at Busch Stadium, the matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, which began like any other regular season game, quickly turned into a source of frustration for the Cardinals. And no, this time the buzz wasn’t about an inning collapse or a striking home run; it was something else. The spotlight stayed still on home plate umpire Scott Barry.

Controversial calls can sometimes entirely alter the course of a game. That moment that turned the tables upside down came when Barry announced a clear strike on a ball. It’s a kind of call that is capable of ending the inning right there. Instead, a walk was awarded to the Phillies. It took them just one more pitch to take advantage of that extra opportunity big time. Immediately, the next batter hit a 2-run double. The Cardinals, who were already having a hard time holding their ground, witnessed the lead slip far away.

Ultimately, they lost by three runs, a margin directly influenced by the events of that inning.

And no, not all of it happened just because of one bad call. According to the umpire auditor, Barry missed a shocking 16 calls in that very game. And guess what? 12 out of those 16 calls were against the Cardinals. Such officiating won’t ever go unnoticed. This is due to ongoing debates about the reliability of human umpires in the league.

Another factor fueling the outrage was the successful testing of automated ball-strike systems during spring training in 2025. Yet, they aren’t rolled in the regular season play. This instance has resulted in increased fan demands for an electronic strike zone. It was already proven effective during the minors. For fans, such moments reflect on the fairness in the future of baseball.

Fans fed up with missed calls following Cardinals-Phillies blunder

When 16 calls are blown, with 12 of them going against the Cardinals, fans are expected to lash out. They made sure to voice it so loudly that it could echo beyond the stadium. The core frustration didn’t stem from one bad call; it, in fact, came from the concerning side of the future of baseball:

“Why—WHY?—is this still an issue? The ABS Challenge system is not right because ball or strike challenges are limited. There’s no reason every pitch shouldn’t be correctly called. The tech has existed for years. Stop this.”

Fans just found X a safe space to vent it all out. Given the fact that they can easily have the tools handy in order to call every pitch precisely, it’s difficult to understand why it is such a problem. However, not all were mad; some simply belonged to Phillies Nation:

“Normally this would make me mad but I’m a Philly fan and (most importantly) it was Mikolas on the mound so I’d say this is fine.“

The truth isn’t going to change: bad calls are downright infuriating. If this fan were a Cardinals supporter, this would make him mad too. Another fan drew a comparison to another officiator:

“Almost as bad as the job Marquez did in AZ.
He gifted MIL the win last night. ABS tech available. Proven effective. But MLB continues to allow the outcomes of games to be illegitimate.”

According to him, MLB has made this a “pattern.” The ABS tech has been tested, it turned out to be reliable, and yet, they refuse to use it. Sometimes, the numbers speak for themselves:

“Phillies stole 12 strikes against the Cards 4.”

Precise, sure, but says it all. This game served as a tipping point for the fan base. Until changes are made, each missed call will weigh more heavily than the last. For most of them, this matchup was a final straw:

“Full time electronic strike zone now
@mlb – Improve the game and the fan experience.”

The sense of urgency is quite real here. Fans aren’t looking for a quick fix here; they need a solid solution now. And now, most of them are no longer curious about if the league should use the tool or not. The concern now is why they haven’t adopted it yet.