After a century and a half of Major League Baseball — after generations of grunts and growls, of muffled shouts and dramatic arm gestures and a cultivated sense of remoteness — something quietly extraordinary happened to the national pastime this year: The umpires began talking to the world.
On April 5, umpire Ted Barrett spoke into a tiny microphone and said these 20 words: “After review, the call is confirmed. The batter was hit by the pitch. The Los Angeles Angels lose their challenge.” Suddenly, one of baseball’s most remote figures became a bit more human.
