The New York Yankees got the win Sunday. But it didn’t come without some umpiring controversy that may have cost slugger Aaron Judge a home run.
New York scored a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that featured another dominant effort from first-year Yankee Max Fried, who improved to 4-0 and lowered his season-long ERA to 1.42 with 7 2/3 two-hit innings.
But Yankees fans — and manager Aaron Boone — were heated over an eighth-inning blast by Judge that sure looked like a home run, but was ruled a foul ball.
Was this a home run?
The foul ball in question took place on a full count with no outs in the top of the eighth as the Yankees held a 3-0 lead. Judge sent an Eric Orze changeup down the left-field line that easily cleared the outfield fence.
It was ruled foul on the field and called foul on first glance by the Yankees broadcast. But umpires initiated a review to take a look at another angle. And a shot down the line on the YES Network broadcast appeared to show Judge’s blast clear the fence inside the foul pole before hooking and landing in the trees beyond the Steinbrenner Field outfield wall.
The angle wasn’t enough to persuade replay officials to overturn the call. They confirmed the call on the field of a foul ball.
One pitch later, Judge struck out looking on a close call, and Boone lost it. The Yankees manager left the dugout and delivered some choice words to home plate umpire Adam Beck. Boone was immediately ejected before sharing words with more members of the umpiring crew on his way out.
Boone had taken issue with previous home-plate calls throughout the game. But he was clearly heated over the apparent Judge home run that wasn’t.
Judge also believed that it was a home run.
“It was a fair ball,” Judge told reporters after the game. “It’s just tough in a situation like this, in a minor league park where the foul poles aren’t that high. … They missed it and we’ve just got to move on.”
Is Tampa’s spring minor league stadium to blame?
So should it have been called a home run? It’s hard to say for sure, and that’s in large part to the Rays’ home stadium.
Tampa’s full-time home, Tropicana Field, is under repair after taking extensive damage from Hurricane Milton. So the Rays are playing this season in Steinbrenner Field, which is, coincidentally, the spring training home of the Yankees. It’s also the usual home field for the Tampa Tarpons, New York’s Single-A affiliate.
It’s not an MLB ballpark. And it doesn’t have an MLB foul pole that would extend considerably higher than the one down the left-field line. Even though Judge’s blast looked like a home run on the broadcast replay, there was no definitive angle at the stadium — at least not one definitive enough to compel replay officials to overturn the call.
The call ultimately didn’t impact the outcome of the game. But if Judge gets involved in a close race for the home run crown down the stretch, don’t expect Yankees fans to forget about this one.
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