In the bottom of the first inning of Monday’s Red Sox-Orioles game, Jonathan Villar lifted a long fly ball to left field, where J.D. Martinez tracked it to the wall. The wall seemed to sneak up on Martinez a little bit, and he was unable to make the catch, with the ball dropping and Villar racing to second for the double. But keep an eye on the big ol’ dummy in the front row in left, who made his own play on the ball:
The best part of this is the little narrative arc told by the fan’s body language during the play and as the review progressed. He blows the catch, and then he kind of recoils, the way you do when you wave at someone and then realize it’s a complete stranger. Then, seeing that Martinez also didn’t make the catch, his arms go up. Woo hoo! A minute or two later, during the replay, he’s twirling his finger over his head, trying to rally support among his fellow fans for the idea that Villar’s ball was, in fact, a dinger. This is desperation—he must’ve known by that point, deep down inside, what was coming.
The final look at our guy comes after the ruling is made—Villar was called out on fan interference—and it is a picture of resignation and defeat. Instead of catching a dinger, this fellow interfered with a double and cost his team an out. And he was narced on by a glove-wearing Red Sox fan in his row. Terrible.