Umpire Caught On Hot Mic Gives Cubs Fans Backhanded Compliment In Fantastic Moment

Major League Baseball's introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system this season was inevitably going to deliver some great, hot mic moments between the umpire, catcher, and batter at the plate, and the first of what will be many viral situations unfolded at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon.

With Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson at the dish in the second inning, Nico Hoerner stole second base on a bang-bang play. Seconds later, home plate umpire Jim Wolf thought he heard Washington Nationals catcher Drew Millas call for the pitch to Swanson, ruled a ball, to be challenged.

As umpires are directed to do, Wolf flipped on his mic to announce that "the catcher is challenging the 'ball call," but the only issue was that Millas never did such a thing.

Milas immediately said "oh no, no, no" after hearing Wolf announce the pitch was going to be challenged, which then led Wolf, still with his mic very much on, to say the "damn crowd is too damn loud."

Saturday's contest was just the second game of the new season, and the weather may be a bit iffy in Chicago in late-March, but Wolf's comment made it very clear that the Cubbies faithful were alive and well on Saturday afternoon.

It turned out that Chicago fans had plenty to be loud about on Saturday. After dropping the season opener in an ugly 10-4 loss to the Nats, the Cubs bounced back for a 10-2 win for their first win of the campaign. Chicago scored four runs in both the second and sixth innings as the offense officially got going after a lackluster debut just 48 hours prior.

As for the ABS system, the traditionalists out there may not like it, but the combination of getting calls right behind the plate plus the potential of a hot-mic moment is a win-win for all.