Each child who goes to an MLB recreation with a baseball glove goals of catching a house run, however the expertise turned bitter for one younger fan at an Arizona Diamondbacks recreation on Friday.
Within the seventh inning of the D-Backs’ recreation in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona outfielder Tommy Pham hit a fly ball to deep ball that was destined to go over the fence. Nevertheless, the ball was low sufficient for Reds rookie outfielder Spencer Steer to rob Pham’s homer.
Steer leaped and got here down with … nothing. Upon additional evaluation, it turned clear what occurred: a younger D-Backs fan principally pulled the ball out of Steer’s glove into his personal glove.
The play was referred to as on the sphere as a house run for Pham, however an umpire evaluation overturned it into an out on fan interference.
The slo-mo view of the catch makes it arduous to inform if the fan actually price Pham a homer. The ball was in Steer’s glove, sure, however solely after bouncing off the child’s glove over him. Both approach, it is a fairly textbook case of fan interference for the house staff.
The kid, who obtained “MVP” chants throughout the video evaluation, was later seen being escorted from his seat whereas getting excessive fives from fellow followers alongside the aisle. The Diamondbacks broadcast later reported the kid and his household weren’t ejected from Chase Area, simply relocated.
Thankfully for all concerned, the play did not have a lot bearing on the end result of the sport between two wild-card contenders.
The Diamondbacks received 10-4, with Pham going 1-for-4 with two RBI. Arizona’s document now sits at 68-61 with a 1.5-game lead on the Reds and San Francisco Giants for the third and ultimate NL wild-card spot.