Anthony Volpe had a game-tying run, at least until the umpires saw what had happened over the left-field wall.
With the New York Yankees down 4-2 in the sixth inning and trying to sweep the American League Division Series at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, shortstop Anthony Volpe hit a 357-foot fly ball that hit Victor Mesa Jr. He left the fielder, he could not catch it. Mosa immediately signaled to the referee to intervene in the game, as did the fan who celebrated the ball euphorically with the match.
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The first replay shows what happened. A Yankees fan had reached over the wall to catch the ball, which clearly remained in the park without help. The judges soon ruled the interference of the fan playing, the impact on the double inclined.
The play still resulted in a Yankees run, but Volpe was sent to second base and later grounded out to Spencer Jones to end the inning, with the Rays still leading 4-3. The Rays hung on to win and advance to the ALCS, where they would meet the Cleveland-Chicago White Sox in the second ALDS series.
MLB’s public explanation of the play in the Bronx;
“After considering all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively ruled that the spectator interfered with the ball on the field of play. The ball would not have left the field of play nor would it have been caught. The call was overturned for spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the runner on second.
It was right, I say. It seemed to be a calling. It still wasn’t popular with Yankee Stadium fans, some of whom responded by throwing various objects onto the field.
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Mosa also had fun with the fans.
This is the second straight series in which a fan catches a ball that arguably shouldn’t have, as the Boston Red Sox avoided a similar fate on Willson Contreras’ long ball in the wild card series.
And, of course, this story echoes Jeffrey Maier’s infamous 1996 ALCS story, with the opposite outcome. In this case, young Maier also caught a fly ball from Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter, but the umpires refused to help the Baltimore Orioles.
Friday will mark the 30th anniversary of that story.