Greg Bird redeems a Yankees fan who interfered with a home run

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Greg Bird’s two-run homer made up for a Yankees fan interference of Aaron Judge’s triple (AP Photo/Rich Schultz). Things got a bit weird in the second inning between*the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees on Sunday night.
Aaron Judge was certain he’d just hit a home run to right field. Most of Yankee Stadium was sure Judge had hit a home run. Even the fan who nearly caught the ball was certain Judge had hit a home run.
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The “nearly caught” part is rather important though, because this poor Yankees fan was determined to have reached his glove into the field of play when Judge’s laser fell right into his mitt.
Had the fan hung onto the ball that would’ve been the end of this story. Instead*the he*was unable to close his glove*and the ball*fell right back into the outfield, a bang-bang play that confused fans and players alike.
Did Judge hit the ball out? Did it fall just short? Did a fan throw it back?
The umps called for a review almost immediately and, unfortunately for this Yankees fan in right field, the whole world got to see him drop Judge’s home run in slow motion.

This guy is 40, brought a glove to the game and still dropped a home run. Log off, buddy. pic.twitter.com/JV6sqyYQtd
— Simon From Yonkers (@Smarqs) April 17, 2017
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Over and over and over again.
The crew determined fan interference, sent Judge back to third base and officially credited the 24-year-old outfielder with a triple.
It was bad enough that this fan interfered. It was worse that the Yankees were losing 1-0 at that point. He must have been ready for a night of mocking and vitriol.
And then Greg Bird stepped to the plate.
On the very next pitch after the review, Bird launched a ball so high and far into the right field bleachers there was no way the fan could’ve*touched it.

Greg Bird finally goes deep & it's a no doubter #Yankees
pic.twitter.com/gqQlVtvvbl
— Around The Bases POD (@AroundBasesPOD) April 17, 2017
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Statcast had Bird’s homer reaching 107.5 mph and flying a cool 429 feet.
The Yankees went up 3-1 thanks to Bird*and the fan was handed the redemption he needed.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected]*or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee