Tuesday night, the new Yankee Stadium witnessed a similar event that the old Yankee Stadium observed fifteen years ago. In the bottom of the second inning of game 5 of the ALCS, Robinson Canoe hit a low drive ball that barely cleared the left field fence. As Texas Rangers’ right fielder Nelson Cruiz attempted to catch the ball and deprive Canoe of the home run, a fan interfered with the play and caught the ball as he leaned out of his seat and over the fence. The MLB, who in the past two years has implemented an instant replay for instances like this one, chose not to replay this call and gave Canoe a homerun. Although this event didn’t affect the outcome of the game, the Rangers beat the Yankees 10-3. In Game One of the 1996 ALCS, a very similar event occurred at the old Yankees' stadium, which cost the Baltimore Orioles a win. In this game, Derek Jeter hit a homerun that cleared the left field fence because Yankees' fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and caught the ball above the Orioles' left fielder. When the MLB implemented the instant replay rule, they created it to fix instances like these so that the right call would be made and not affect the outcome of the game. Tuesday night’s call by the umpiring crew was wrong and luckily for them it didn’t affect the outcome of the final score. Fans shouldn’t be allowed to influence a game like this and get away with it. I believe that if a fan interferes with the game, they should be asked to leave or given another seat. MLB Playoffs are supposed to determine the best team in the major league and not allow the fans to determine the outcome of the game with instances like these.
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