Altuve HR well almost.

[parabrave]

Did anyone else watch the so called fan interference on Altuves HR. To me it looked like it was in the stands, what say you.

[msudawglb]

Did anyone else watch the so called fan interference on Altuves HR. To me it looked like it was in the stands, what say you.

Yes, it was in the stands. If the fan doesn?t pull a Guidry and he catches the ball, it?s probably ruled a HR.

[Commercecomet24]

Yeah it looked like it was in the stands. However I do believe betts would've caught it without them hitting his glove. That being said if you reach into the stands all bets are off(no pun intended).

[TXDawg]

It was in the stands.

Stros got hosed.

[RougeDawg]

Hose job for sure. Changed the dynamic of the game from the beginning. MLB is better than that. Have to get that call correct.

[Homedawg]

Yeah it looked like it was in the stands. However I do believe betts would've caught it without them hitting his glove. That being said if you reach into the stands all bets are off(no pun intended).

Joe west..... that's all that needs to be said. I'm for the Sox and if he doesn't rule on the field it's an out then replay wouldn't have overturned it either way. The fan wasn't interfering from the stands. And to say betts would have caught it, is a guess and really has nothing to do w there rule

[Commercecomet24]

Joe west..... that's all that needs to be said. I'm for the Sox and if he doesn't rule on the field it's an out then replay wouldn't have overturned it either way. The fan wasn't interfering from the stands. And to say betts would have caught it, is a guess and really has nothing to do w there rule

You right about Joe West. I think he just reacted to seeing the fan hit the glove and not taking into account that betts was reaching into the stands. Every mlb post season something out of the ordinary is gonna happen. Joe should've retired long ago along with angel Hernandez.

[Commercecomet24]

Figures it would wind up a 2 run game. Wow.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Hose job... he wasn’t going to catch that ball and it was definitely going out

[Red Sox Dawg]

I bet he would have caught the ball, Betts is one of the top 3 players in baseball. That being said, tough call for the Astros. Happens.
There is a fan with his hand on the wall actually grabbing it for support, his hand is on the yellow line. Is he in the field of play?
I have no issues with the call, but.........

Go Red Sox!!

[Tbonewannabe]

I bet he would have caught the ball, Betts is one of the top 3 players in baseball. That being said, tough call for the Astros. Happens.
There is a fan with his hand on the wall actually grabbing it for support, his hand is on the yellow line. Is he in the field of play?
I have no issues with the call, but.........

Go Red Sox!!

It certainly looked like he was going to catch it. I saw someone talking about how the camera angle affected it. Betts body hadn't hit the wall so unless his arm is really long then the fan hit his glove around the top of the wall which is fan interference. Just rewatched it, the fan's legs are against the wall and he has reached out. So worst case scenario, the ball was at the top of the wall so it was the right call. Also, it wouldn't have been a homerun because Betts would have at worst pulled it back into the field of play so runners at 2nd and 3rd.

[smootness]

Looked like the right call to me.

It couldn't have been a HR no matter what because Betts brought it back onto the field of play. And based on all the images, Betts is not yet at the wall and the fans there were against the wall and reaching out. So it likely was over the field of play, or at least above the fence. Tough call, could go either way, but it's more likely it was over the field of play.

So good call IMO. At worst, it's a 50/50 call.

[Kingbarkus]

But according to West, Betts didn't even jump into the crowd. He was still in the field of play, the umpire said, according to a pool report.

"When [Betts] jumped up to reach for the ball, the spectator reached out of the stands and hit him over the playing field and closed his glove."

Pressed further and asked if the ball had not yet crossed over the wall when Betts jumped for it, West said: "No."

Joe West is incompetent and a liar. Betts was clearly jumping over the 7 foot wall. No way was he in the field of play when the glove contacted the fan's hands. To assume an out there is an MLB screw job. I look at it as the hands of the fan being a "wall". Once contacted the play is an HR or a double.

[Tbonewannabe]

But according to West, Betts didn't even jump into the crowd. He was still in the field of play, the umpire said, according to a pool report.

"When [Betts] jumped up to reach for the ball, the spectator reached out of the stands and hit him over the playing field and closed his glove."

Pressed further and asked if the ball had not yet crossed over the wall when Betts jumped for it, West said: "No."

Joe West is incompetent and a liar. Betts was clearly jumping over the 7 foot wall. No way was he in the field of play when the glove contacted the fan's hands. To assume an out there is an MLB screw job. I look at it as the hands of the fan being a "wall". Once contacted the play is an HR or a double.

Rewatch it. The fans are leaning against the fence and reach out. Betts was going to make the catch or at least have the ball hit his glove. Betts was also about a foot away from the wall. It was a close play but the fans reached over the wall and hit his glove so therefore it is fan interference. I heard a guy on ESPN this morning that used to work for the Astros. He talked about how the one guy had his hand on the wall and was reaching out. The other guys beside him were also reaching out and hit the glove. If one guy was over the wall then the other two definitely were.

[KOdawg1]

This is why all MLB stadiums should have a gap between the fence and the first row of fans.

[Dawg61]

This is why all MLB stadiums should have a gap between the fence and the first row of fans.

For sure behind the homerun fences there should be a 2-3 foot gap so that stuff like this doesn't happen anymore. Astros RF fence needs to be higher as well. 7 foot is stupid short.

[fishwater99]

He would have caught the ball and it would have been an out.

[Dawg61]

He would have caught the ball and it would have been an out.

Probably but you can't assume it in sports and Betts was reaching into the stands not the other way around. Once you are reaching into the stands what happens to your glove shouldn't affect the result of the play as called. What if it was golf and a fan swatted a ball back from going out of bounds? They'd drop the ball where the fan touched it. They wouldn't award a two stroke penalty on the golfer. To call Altuve out and reward Betts for a ball he didn't catch as if he did is bad umpiring imo.

[Tbonewannabe]

Probably but you can't assume it in sports and Betts was reaching into the stands not the other way around. Once you are reaching into the stands what happens to your glove shouldn't affect the result of the play as called. What if it was golf and a fan swatted a ball back from going out of bounds? They'd drop the ball where the fan touched it. They wouldn't award a two stroke penalty on the golfer. To call Altuve out and reward Betts for a ball he didn't catch as if he did is bad umpiring imo.

Watch the video again. Betts wasn't against the fence and the fans were reaching out over the fence. Best case is the ball is exactly over the fence. I agree that there should be about a 2 foot gap to prevent this but it is what it is.

[smootness]

https://gfycat.com/FirmUnacceptableLeveret

Watch that link. You can see at the moment the ball hits the glove, the guy in the dress shirt reaching over the wall to the right has his left hand on the fence and is clearly leaning his body past that point with his right arm out in front of his left. That hand is absolutely over the field of play, and it is directly under the ball.

You can also see Betts is definitely not up against the wall at that point.

To prove the point even further, look at the picture at the top of this link: https://deadspin.com/joe-west-tries-...all-1829835433

The ball is just to the right of the crease in the wall before the last section of orange. In the GIF above, you can see that the two guys standing there who touched Betts' glove are clearly reaching over that part of the fence.

Like I said, at best it's clearly the right call. At worst, it's 50/50. No one should be upset and claiming West screwed it up. I don't like Joe West, but it was the right call there.