Mets Lost Last Night Without Even Throwing A Pitch, Thanks To Technology

The New York Mets lost last night thanks to a mixture of commissioner Rob Manfred's new rules and just plain old 'Mets gonna Mets' bad luck.

With the game tied at six a piece in the 10th inning, the Mets brought in relief pitcher Josh Walker to get them out of a bases-loaded bind.

It went horribly.

METS PITCHER HAD COMMUNICATION ISSUES

After throwing his warm up pitches, Walker stepped to the mound like he normally would. However, because commissioner Manfred is so hell-bent on new technology and "speeding up the game," Walker suddenly realized that he didn't have his "PitchCom" device that allows the catcher to signal to him what pitch to throw.

When he tried alerting catcher Francisco Alvarez about it by continually tapping his hat, Alvarez began doing the same. He then appeared to call timeout behind the plate and signal to the umpire that there was a communication era. Despite the home plate umpire understanding such, the third base ump called Walker for balking.

The Mets would end up losing without even throwing a pitch.

Is Walker at fault here for balking? Of course. But this is what happens when a pitcher isn't allowed to actually pitch. He's too worried about the tech not working that it screwed up something that he's done time and time again throughout his entire life.

The 28-year-old reliever spoke with reporters after the game where he accepted blame for his blunder, but also said that PitchCom and new tech have made it "a different game" these days.

Meanwhile, Mets manager Buck Showalter, who continues to be on the hot seat as the Mets find themselves 18.5 games out of first place in the NL East, said that Walker should have stepped off and not balked. He then expressed his frustration with the overall situation.

OF ALL DAYS...

The whole situation is pretty damn funny because of course it happened to the Mets. To make matters even worse, it happened on a day where the Mets traded pitcher Justin Verlander just a day after they dealt Max Scherzer - their two aces, gone just like that. To then lose because of a BASES LOADED BALK just a few hours later? My God.

But it also does bring up a bigger point. What happens if this was a Wild Card playoff game or something even more important? And it resulted in a team losing because the pitcher's earpiece didn't work.

The only way these new technological changes work is if you allow room for common sense. Otherwise, I'm telling you it's going to eventually come back and cost someone a big game and fans are going to be irate.

Written by
Mike “Gunz” Gunzelman has been involved in the sports and media industry for over a decade. He’s also a risk taker - the first time he ever had sushi was from a Duane Reade in Penn Station in NYC.