A fan’s reach over the wall cost the Yankees their postseason. Nearly three decades after Jeffrey Maier became forever etched into Yankees lore for his infamous fan interference, the Bronx found itself reliving that nightmare on Wednesday. Anthony Volpe appeared to give New York a two-run homer, only for fan interference to wipe it away. It handed the Tampa Bay Rays a moment that helped seal a postseason sweep.
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And this time, the alleged fan didn’t exactly get to walk away unnoticed. As clips of the fan being escorted out of Yankee Stadium by police went viral, the fury from the Bleacher Creatures quickly followed. With two runs erased and the Yankees’ postseason run ending at home, one fan suddenly found himself at the center of a storm that could make even the infamous Maier episode look tame.
“Yankees fan escorted out after interfering with Anthony Volpe’s game-tying HR turned RBI double,” New York Post Sports shared via X.
Volpe entered the plate in the sixth inning with the Yankees trailing 2–4. George Lombard Jr. was on first base. Volpe drilled a deep fly ball off Rays reliever Griffin Jax to left field. Rays left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. tracked it to the wall. He leaped in an attempt to make a spectacular catch.
However, a fan in the front row reached out over the outfield wall and into the field of play. He snatched the ball directly above Mesa’s outstretched glove. Mesa Jr. waved his hands, signalling for interference amid the Yankee Stadium erupting with the score-tying hit.
Volpe was also celebrating with others in the dugout when the umpires called for a review.
After a lengthy video review, the MLB Replay Center officially overturned the home run. It was concluded that the fan definitively reached into the field of play. “After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play,” MLB said. “The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught. The call is OVERTURNED. So, there was spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the batter-runner at second.”
Volpe was stripped of the home run and awarded an RBI double. Lombard scored to make it 4–3, but Volpe was sent back to second base. The Yankees couldn’t recover and ended up losing the ALDS to the Rays. And here the scene got uglier.
Following another brief delay where angry fans threw debris onto the left-field grass, Spencer Jones struck out to end the inning, leaving Volpe stranded. The fan who interfered was immediately escorted out of the stadium by security and police.
Nevertheless, the incident immediately drew parallels to the infamous 1996 Jeffrey Maier incident. In that game, 12-year-old Maier famously reached over the wall to turn a Derek Jeter fly ball into a home run against Baltimore.
While the Yankees are out of the postseason, the controversy is still far from over.