A teenager lost his choice front-row seat after he was charged with interference with a play by snatching a home run ball out of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Spencer Steer’s glove during Friday’s game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks player Tommy Pham sent a blistering shot to left field during the seventh inning, but when Steer leaped to snag the ball, a kid sitting in the front row reached out and ripped the ball right from Steer’s glove, Fox News reported.
Initially, the hit was called a home run for Pham. But after a review, the umps reversed that.
Spencer Steer nearly robbed this Tommy Pham homer but a fan snagged the ball out of his glove
The call was later overturned and Pham was called out pic.twitter.com/nkLFPlDlzd
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 26, 2023
What could have been a home run was disqualified when the umps ruled that the play suffered interference.
Despite the loss of the run, the Diamondbacks still ended up beating the Reds 10-8 on Friday.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he was just as shocked by the kid’s actions as anybody.
“Once I saw what happened, I had the same reaction every fan had in the stadium that it was a pretty remarkable play by the kid,” Lovullo said. “It looked like the ball was in Steer’s glove, and the kid stole it. I don’t know how he did it.”
At first, the crowd cheered the kid’s catch and chanted “MVP!” for him. But once the final call was made, some boos rang out.
And they are now reviewing a potential fan interference call on a HR where Spencer Steer thought he had the catch… after review they ruled it an out pic.twitter.com/MoZCGPbmKZ
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) August 26, 2023
Stadium officials grabbed the kid, removed him from his front-row seat, and sent him off to another, less troublesome perch.
For his part, Pham said he felt bad for the kid.
“I was in the dugout like, out, it’s clear interference,” Pham told the media. “I just feel bad for him because kids really don’t know that interference rules, so sucks that you got to get kicked out for that.”
The kid that took Tommy Pham’s home run ball out of Spencer Steer’s glove getting high fives as he’s escorted out and was getting ‘MVP’ chants during the video replay. #Dbacks #ArizonaBorn pic.twitter.com/tZH2lAEll6
— Steve Sher (@stevesher_7) August 26, 2023
The Diamondbacks’ win gave starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt his first winning decision of the season. He allowed only two runs on three hits in his 5-1/3 innings on the mound.
That wasn’t the only strange play Steer was involved in on Friday. The Diamondbacks also scored an unexpected run in the sixth inning when Steer collided with shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who caught an in-field fly that Steer was also running for. The Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo took advantage of the collision and ran for home, putting Arizona in the lead 6-4.
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