This is hard to watch.
While Aaron Judge secured his place in baseball history, a fan in left field came painfully close to securing a huge payday. Instead, he watched a historic home run ball bounce into the bullpen.
Judge launched a 94 mph sinker off of Toronto Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza in the seventh inning on Wednesday to secure a 5-3 lead for the New York Yankees en route to an 8-3 win. More importantly, the two-run blast was his 61st of the season to tie Roger Maris for the most single-season home runs in AL history.
The home run ball holds value both in baseball history and on the auction block — if it were to get there. But this one instead made its way back to Judge after a Blue Jays fan sitting in left field fan just missed snagging it.
Check out the fan in the video below wearing the dark blue jersey. He reached over the railing just short of the ball as it bounced off the wall and into the bullpen.
61 FOR AARON JUDGE.
HE TIES ROGER MARIS FOR THE AL HOME RUN RECORD.pic.twitter.com/SMHZMtMsBQ
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 29, 2022
A closer angle in slow motion shows just how close he was.
how much did this drop cost that person? pic.twitter.com/fiSJXGNnhF
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 29, 2022
And then there's the dude in the light blue jersey. An angle from home plate shows him reaching across three other fans in an effort to snag the ball. And all he did was get in the way of the guy who might have had a chance to catch it.
No one got the ball 🤣 pic.twitter.com/KS1Nr3fiTr
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 29, 2022
Our would-be hero in dark blue — who turns out to be a Bo Bichette fan — immediately removed his glove and chucked it into his neighbor's head in disgust. Our light-blue clad villain could only manage a surrender cobra that's destined for Twitter meme-dom.
So why are they so upset? The ball's not just a nice souvenir. It's worth a small fortune on the memorabilia market. Experts have estimated the ball to be worth $150,000 — on the low end. Others have estimated that it would fetch between $250,000 and $400,000 on the auction block. We might never know.
Per The Canadian Press, the guy in the light blue jersey is a 37-year-old Toronto restaurant owner who goes by Frankie Lasagna. He told the Press that he would have kept the ball.
“I would have held on to it for as long as I could (to) negotiate,” he said. “Maybe get Judge to try to come to the restaurant.”
As for the guy in the Bichette jersey? He declined to comment. He'd clearly had enough.
It turns out that Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann reportedly snagged the ball. Much to the delight of his wife and Fox Sports reporter Sara Walsh, who was watching the events play out from home in Florida in the middle of Hurricane Ian.
Bad news is I’m down here in Florida battling a hurricane, but the good news is I can announce my retirement…. pic.twitter.com/gbhFSgDZBL
— Sara Walsh (@Sara_Walsh) September 29, 2022
Alas, Buschmann and Walsh aren't on the path to cashing in. Buschmann instead handed the ball over.
Oh cool. He just handed that back without checking to see if our house is still here? I’d next like to announce our divorce. pic.twitter.com/37HmHIoomS
— Sara Walsh (@Sara_Walsh) September 29, 2022
Walsh later reported that Buschmann gave the ball to Yankees pitcher Zack Britton.
Just a reporter doing work here… per my sources…
Matt Buschmann wasn’t forced to give the ball back but he handed it over to Zack Britton. @Busch26 told me:
“The Judge and Maris family have been flying all over the country. They deserve to have that ball.” #bluejays
— Sara Walsh (@Sara_Walsh) September 29, 2022
The ball then made its way back to Judge who gave it to his mom.
Here’s #AaronJudge giving the historic No. 61 HR baseball to his mom, Mrs. Patty Judge. #Yankeespic.twitter.com/pw1mVEyBHY
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) September 29, 2022
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