Almost three decades after the Yankees benefited from baseball’s most notorious fan-interference incident, New York found itself on the wrong side of a similar moment. An overzealous spectator reached beyond the outfield wall, helping seal the Yankees’ 4-3 postseason defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays and ending their playoff run.
Trailing 4-2 in a pivotal American League Division Series Game 3, the Yankees were searching for a much-needed breakthrough with a runner on first base.
Anthony Volpe, who had struggled at second base, jumped on a 1-0 pitch and drove it high and deep toward left field at Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. raced toward the warning track and the wall, tracking the ball as it descended. Before he could attempt a catch, however, the ball vanished into the crowd.
Yankees fans erupted, briefly believing Volpe had launched a game-tying home run to make it 4-4.
The celebration was short-lived. Replay officials determined that a spectator had reached over the wall and touched the ball while it was still in the field of play, preventing Mesa from making a potential play. After reviewing multiple angles and applying the rules, officials overturned the home run because of fan interference.
Anthony Volpe saw a potential game-tying home run removed from the scoreboard
Replay officials determined that a fan reached into the field before Victor Mesa could make the catch
Volpe was awarded an RBI double, cutting the Yankees’ deficit to 4-3
Officials also concluded that the ball’s trajectory meant Mesa would not have caught it, meaning Volpe could not be ruled out. He was awarded a double, George Lombard Jr. scored from first, and the Yankees moved within one run at 4-3.
The ruling drew a chorus of boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd, which had watched a potential tying home run disappear. Team officials and members of the NYPD later escorted the fans involved in the interference from the stadium.
A statement from the MLB replay center (via the New York Post’s Joel Sherman) read: ‘After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play.
The official ruling stated: ‘The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught. The call is OVERTURNED, there was spectator interference and no home run. Additionally, the Replay Official scored one run and placed the batter-runner at second.’
Online, the controversial play sparked a wave of jokes and criticism aimed at the Yankees fans who had inadvertently taken a run off the board for their own team.
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‘Dumbest f***ing fans in all of baseball. Year in and year out,’ one social media user wrote, alongside an image of a fan-interference incident from the 2024 World Series.
Another user joked: ‘mfers so thirsty for a ball they cost the Yankees the game.’
‘Why in a playoff game in your home stadium would you even do this?’ another person asked.
Tampa Bay won Game 3, swept the Yankees and advanced to the American League Championship Series against either the Cleveland Guardians or Chicago White Sox
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The Yankees failed to score again after the sixth-inning incident involving Volpe. They fell 4-3, were swept by the Rays and were eliminated from the postseason.
Following the overturned homer, Rays pitchers Griffin Jax, Cam Booser Kevin Kelly and Bryan Baker struck out six Yankee batters to hold on to the one-run advantage.
Tampa’s runs were scored by Jonny DeLuca off an RBI single, Ryan Vilade off a solo shot and by Mesa – who socked a two-run homer.
As for the Yankees, this marks the 17th straight season that they will not win a World Series – the second-longest drought in franchise history.
Since 2009, the last time they won a title, the Yankees have won only seven non-Wild Card series and lost eleven non-Wild Cards under general manager Brian Cashman. It’s the eighth postseason series loss in nine seasons for manager Aaron Boone, who has now lost in the ALDS five times.
The interference comes just two days before the 30th anniversary of the ‘Jeffrey Maier incident’ from the 1996 ALDS between the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles.
In Game 1 of that series, 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall to try and catch a ball hit by Derek Jeter. While Maier’s catch attempt prevented Baltimore outfielder Tony Tarasco from making a play on it, umpire Rich Garcia ruled it a home run anyway.
The Yankees went on to win the ALDS and the World Series – with Maier sitting behind the team’s dugout in the final series of the year.
