Josh Donaldson thought he had a home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning in game one of the ALDS, as did the Yankee Stadium operators who started the light flashing and the home run music.
But the music quickly cut off and the lights went back to normal as the right field umpire signaled that the ball was still in play, and had hit the top of the wall. Donaldson, already catching heat multiple times throughout the season for pimping hits that did not result in home runs, was thrown out trying to get back to first, and the play was confirmed by review.
It looked like a fan missed the ball in the first row of the right field seats, where any contact could have made it a ground rule double. So, the Jeffrey Maier jokes promptly came out in full force, as fans remembered when the young fan in the Bronx helped the start of a dynasty by turning what would have likely been an out into a big home run for Derek Jeter in the 1996 ALCS.
File it under the most-used joke of the night during the game:
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