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Saw this the other night in the Pirates-Brewers game in Milwaukee...
Pirates' batter hits foul pop up near stands. Fielder runs over and attempts the catch but misses the ball but fan catches it! The fan did not physically interfere with the fielder, in fact the fan's glove was about two feet lower than the infielders's glove when he caught the ball. The fielder then crashed into the fence as the umpire signalled for the out. I assume that the ump ruled fan interference (I only got to see the replay because I was getting a cold beverage at the time).
I am not arguing the call, even though I am a Pirates fan. I was just curious about the fan interference. I have seen many instances where a fan touched or caught a ball before a player had the opportunity. This was the first time I can remember when the fielder missed his opportunity for the play, the fan made the catch, and the ump called an out (the ump did a great job of hustling to get in position to see the play). IMO the player's actions were not affected by the fan. I think he took his eye off the ball because he was about to hit the fence.
Have any of you guys ever seen this happen before?
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