If you had just missed out on history, you’d be upset too.
One Blue Jays fan in Toronto came oh-so-close to snagging Aaron Judge’s 61st home run on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre, and wasn’t too happy about it.
The fan tossed his mitt in disgust after Judge’s dinger — which tied Roger Maris’ 61-year-old Yankees and American League record — eluded his grasp in the Rogers Centre bleachers.
He wasn’t the only fan who came up short.
“I would never ever bring a glove other than this situation,” Frankie Lasagna, caught on camera grabbing his head after missing out on the catch told the Canadian Press. “I needed a bigger one.”
The longball, a 394-foot two-run shot in the top of the seventh, put the Yankees ahead, 5-3. Lasagna, a restaurant owner, bought his front-row ticket with designs on catching the historic ball.
“In the front row I felt like you’ve got the best chance,” he said. “Lo and behold, I was just a few feet away.”
While it would have been cool to hold onto history, the fan also missed out on a potential payday: The record-tying ball could have fetched $250,000 at auction, according to SCP Auctions President David Kohler Front Office Sports.
“The disbelief comes over you and just the shock and the amazement,” Lasagna said of the missed potential windfall. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I almost had it.’
“I would have held on to it for as long as I could (to) negotiate. Maybe get Judge to try to come to the restaurant.”
Instead, Judge will get the ball back without having to trade any signatures or memorabilia — it landed in the Blue Jays bullpen, caught by bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, who promptly turned it over to the Yankees.
Reliever Zach Britton held on to it until he entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.