TORONTO – When the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge tied an American League record 61 homers in a season Wednesday night, the ball landed in the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen, where manager Matt Buschmann found a memento potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“The bad news is that I’m here in Florida battling a hurricane, but the good news is that I can announce my retirement,” tweeted Sara Walsh, Buschmann’s wife and Fox Sports reporter.
Then Buschmann and Blue Jays late-game specialist Jordan Romano passed the ball to Yankees shortstop Zack Britton, who made sure it ended up in the umpire’s hands.
Then Walsh added the following: “Oh ‘cool’. He just gave it without checking if our house is still here? I would now like to announce our divorce. »
And so that everyone would fully understand that she was joking, she returned to her Twitter: “Reporter just doing her job here… according to my sources… Matt Buschmann shouldn’t have given the ball to Zack Britton,” adding that he told him that “Judge’s and Marisa’s families traveled all over the country. They deserve to have that ball.”
When the umpire moved left-handed hitter Tim Mayza to the lower stands behind the left-field fence in the seventh inning on Wednesday night, baseball-gloved spectators prepared to catch a piece of baseball history. However, the ball brushed two outstretched gloves, bounced off the wall and landed in the Blue Jays bullpen.
You are overcome with disbelief, then shock and astonishment, described Frankie Lasagna, one of the two spectators who were closest to the ball. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I almost did it.'”
Lasagna, a Toronto restaurant owner, was aware of the stakes when he bought a front-row ticket. Besides, he admitted, under normal circumstances he wouldn’t come to the stadium with a glove.
“I thought you had the best chance in the front row. And now I was only a few feet away. »
Along with Lasagna, a Blue Jays fan wearing a jersey identified with Bo Bichette came even closer to catching Judge’s home run. Visibly distraught after the bullet passed through him, he refused to give an interview.