Aaron Judge may have gotten robbed of a home run during the New York Yankees ‘ 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. But it wasn’t because of a Rays fielder.
Partly due to an apparent missed call on the part of the umpiring crew, as well as certain limitations in the Rays’ temporary stadium—ironically enough, the Yankees’ spring ballpark, George M. Steinbrenner Field—Judge’s seeming home run was ruled a foul ball.
In the top of the eighth inning, Judge sent a drive to deep left field, a ball the umpiring crew ruled foul. The umpires then decided to review the call, which was upheld.
One replay angle from the Yes Network broadcast appeared to show the ball traveling well to the right of the foul pole at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
??? pic.twitter.com/vSh1FMHwvV
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 20, 2025
Other angles seemed to indicate the opposite: that the ball was clearly foul.
Foul ball pic.twitter.com/IhPD3tYhbk
— YankeesMuse (@YankeesMuse) April 20, 2025
Only serving to complicate matters further is the fact that the foul pole is much higher in all MLB ballparks than the ones at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Perhaps that fooled the umpires? Or maybe they got the call right?
Either way, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was still frustrated about the ruling when Judge was called out on strikes moments later. An irate Boone gave home-plate umpire Adam Beck a piece of his mind, presumably about the called strike and controversial home run call, before he was ejected.
It will be interesting to see what the Yankees have to say about this moment in postgame interviews.
