Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Most people who attend a baseball game in person dream of being able to snag a ball that makes its way into the stands. One guy at a Yankees game thought he’d secured a souvenir when a home run hit by Aaron Judge ended up in his glove, but things took a hilarious turn courtesy of another fan who sneakily took advantage of a golden opportunity.
Plenty of baseballs make their way into the stands during a typical game, but it can be a bit tough to definitively calculate the odds of getting one at any given contest given the variables involved.
With that said, some people who’ve attempted to do exactly that estimated you have about a one-in-1,000 chance of grabbing a foul ball at a game where 30,000 people are in attendance, although that doesn’t really account for the hot zones where they tend to end up.
That number is obviously a bit higher when it comes to the chance of getting a home run ball when you consider MLB teams combine to hit around two of them per game on average. You’re obviously only going to get the chance to catch one if you’re sitting in the outfield, and it’s not rare to see a fairly chaotic scene unfold in the bleachers after one lands.
One guy who attended the showdown between the Yankees and the Padres in the Bronx on Tuesday night didn’t have to fight for the home run ball Aaron Judge sent into the front row in left field in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he issued a resounding rebuttal to anyone who makes fun of grown men who bring a glove to baseball game by using his to pluck it out of the air.
The fan was understandably amped to celebrate with the friends who swarmed him after he made the catch, but things took an incredibly amusing turn after the ball popped out of his glove and rolled across the top of the outfield wall before a man standing next them to them grabbed it and casually slid it into his pocket.
Finders keepers 😭 pic.twitter.com/ZBeU78QOwN
— MLB (@MLB) May 7, 2025
You both hate and love to see it.