BOSTON — Tennis already uses electronic line-calling to determine if balls are in or out. The National Football League will begin using Hawk-Eye technology to call first downs this coming season. And the baseball industry already applies Hawk-Eye’s tracking systems in numerous ways.
So couldn’t MLB use similar tech to determine fair and foul balls in the year 2025?
The topic was discussed with a few Yankees after DJ LeMahieu hit a ball that was deemed foul in the 10th inning of a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox on Friday. Replays appeared to show “a quarter of the ball,” as Aaron Boone put it, touching the right field foul line, indicating a fair ball. However, MLB’s Replay Operations Center in New York City, which rules on reviewed calls, upheld the original foul ruling.
That led to ejections for Boone and, ultimately, the soft-spoken LeMahieu.
Aaron Boone was ejected after the umpires didn’t overturn this foul ball call pic.twitter.com/HtT3oCuZem
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 14, 2025
Afterward, LeMahieu, as old-school as ballplayers come these days, endorsed the idea of MLB implementing a system akin to the electronic line-calling technology that is popular in tennis.
“Yeah, that’d be nice,” LeMahieu told the Daily News, adding that he had thought about the subject prior to Friday’s controversy. “How are we trying to look at a moving video camera to decide if it’s fair or foul?
“We have all the technology you could possibly have in this game. How do you not get stuff like that right? I’m sure they’ve thought about it.”
In tennis, line-calling systems, which include Hawk-Eye technology, track the trajectory of balls using cameras, computers and microphones. Results can also be displayed on jumbotrons, similar to how MLB showed results for its Automatic Ball-Strike system in spring training.
However, a source said that MLB does not use any Hawk-Eye or line-calling-style technology for replays. Instead, officials in New York rely only on traditional video and get the same camera angles that are used by television broadcasts.
LeMahieu figured that line-calling technology would help with home runs, too. He noted that replay review missed a long Aaron Judge homer against the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field, a minor league complex with shorter foul poles than big league stadiums, on April 20.
However, Judge, another old-school player, didn’t love the idea of adding more technology to baseball.
“I think with how they’re moving with the automated strike zone and stuff like that, we might see it down the road,” he told The News. “But I like the game the way it is.
“There’s probably a better way, but I’ll let somebody smarter than me figure that out.”
Meanwhile, Boone said he hasn’t really thought about bringing a tennis-like replay system to the majors.
“I’ve tried to put this behind me,” the manager jokingly said Saturday when asked about the technology. “I thought we had a good look last night.
“I think we have so many angles that usually you’re able to find what you need. And look, I think replay, for the most part, does a really good job. So maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t given it that much thought.”
While creating a line-calling system in baseball would surely be an expensive endeavor and require enough testing that there is little doubt in the technology, other sports are already using the types of advancements being talked about here to determine ball placement, in and out calls, and similar plays.
Asked if it was frustrating to see the tech being deployed elsewhere but not in his sport, LeMahieu said, “That’s baseball.”
“You also love not having as much technology sometimes, too,” he continued. “So it is what it is.”
