MLB fans at ballparks can sometimes be a little too ambitious, so check out this list of the five most memorable fan interferences of all time.
Anyone who says they don’t care about catching a foul ball or home run at a baseball game is, purely, just a liar. Kids and adults alike have been bringing baseball gloves to MLB parks for as long as the game itself has been around.But there are those times where incredible things, both good and bad, can happen when fans are so close to the on-field action of a major league game. So much so, that sometimes the names of the interfering fans can outlast those of the players themselves in the collective memory of the sport.
Some of the fans on this list were just one and done sensations. Others suffered longer-term effects of their misjudged attempts to affect a play – with some not on purpose. Others, however, did it very, very purposely.
Use this list to remind yourself of what not to do next time you visit an MLB ballpark.
Here are the top five Major League Baseball fan interference plays of all-time:
5. Kim vs. Hurled Beer Can
Apparently very passionate Toronto Blue Jays fan Ken Pagan threw a full beer can at Baltimore Orioles left fielder Hyun Soo Kim during his seventh inning ending catch during a tight 2-2 tie in the 2016 AL Wild Card game. Center fielder Adam Jones sprinted over to his teammate’s defense and began pointing and shouting to the crowd, visibly fired up all the way back to the dugout.Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter walked to the scene of the crime with umpires, hoping to get the fan ejected, but Blue Jays spokesperson Erik Grosman said after the game that the fan had already escaped before police made it to his section.
Toronto police asked the fan via Twitter to turn himself in because, “We have photos.” Pagan eventually did so and has been charged with mischief by Toronto police. According to TheStar.com, Pagan was a sports copy editor for Postmedia Network Inc., a largely journalistic operation.
4. The Votto Death Stare
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has always been a fan favorite. But is he a fan of them?After St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty hit a foul pop-up down the first base line with enough room for Votto to make a play by the stands, a Reds fan reached out at the same time as the former All-Star, knocking his glove hand away as the ball fell to the ground.
Votto then proceeded to give a sneering look to the fan, while simultaneously grabbing the Reds logo on his shirt, harshly pulling him closer with it, then throwing him back in angry disappointment.
The tense exchange does have a happy ending, however, as Votto made sure the fan got an autographed ball after the incident, showing maybe sometimes interfering can pay unforeseen dividends.
3. Dad Makes the Play of a Lifetime
As if catching a ball barehanded off an MLB bat isn’t hard enough, Keith Hartley has officially put all Dads to shame by stealing a foul out catch from Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez at Wrigley Field.Hartley did this all while holding and feeding his infant child, making this fan interference as Willie Mays-esque as is possible.
The play still ended up an out, as Gonzalez clearly was placed under the ball with his glove prepared to make the grab easily. But how could Cubs fans be upset with such an epic interference? The top incident of this list might make you think otherwise.
2. Warning Track Robbery
During Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, Baltimore Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco was camped right at the Yankee Stadium wall, ready to catch a Derek Jeter fly ball – that is until 12-year-old Yankee fan Jeffrey Maier reached his glove out right over Tarasco’s and grabbed the ball. Umpire Rich Garcia immediately called it a home run for the Yankee captain.All Tarasco’s pleading that it was his ball to catch didn’t seem to matter as the drastic homer call stood, leading ultimately to a 4-1 Yankees series win that year.
In replays, though, it is clear that Maier’s glove breaks the threshold of the wall and he did, in fact, reach out above the warning track to make the catch of his life.
Maier became a national fixation following the catch, resulting in massive media coverage. He pursued baseball and became Division III Wesleyan University’s all-time hits leader in the process.
Maier actually attended prospect tryouts for the Yankees after his college career, but nothing ever materialized. In 2015, he sold the glove he used that fateful 1996 day for $22,705.
1. The Block Heard ‘Round the World
This is the fan interference of MLB history.Steve Bartman innocently made his way to Wrigley Field for Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS with his Chicago Cubs leading the series with the Florida Marlins 3-2. As the championship starved Cubs led 3-0 opening the eighth inning, with a World Series trip on the horizon, Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo struck a foul ball down the left field line towards Cubs outfielder Moises Alou.
Alou leaped for the ball at the wall, hoping to get his team one out closer to the NL Pennant, but Bartman reached up with Alou and knocked the ball away. Umpires ruled no fan interference, and, as would only happen to the Cubs, the Marlins put up eight runs that inning, putting the game out of reach.
The series ultimately culminated in another year of disappointment for Chicago baseball fans, as the Marlins took that momentum and won the series, proceeding to then beat the 101-win Yankees in the World Series.
Unfortunately for him, Bartman became a city-wide icon for all the Cubs’ issues, by fans who blamed him for that momentum-shifting NLCS play for years to come.
So if there’s anything fans can learn from his experience and the others on this list, please keep the baseball to the MLB professionals.