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Viewers knew that someone had run onto the field in Colorado in the bottom of the eighth inning of the Yankees' 6-3 win over the Rockies on July 15. Play-by-play announcer John Flaherty told the YES audience so.
What viewers didn't know -- because such things are never shown -- was that it wasn't some clown trying to dodge pursuing security guards.
The guy had hopped the outfield fence in left and was making a beeline for the infielders.
Four security guards coming from three directions converged on the bearded intruder near second base, barely 10 to 15 feet from Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe.
He then tossed a t-shirt and shouted at the Morris County, NJ, native, who slowly stepped away as the guards gang-tackled the running man.
Those interested in seeing what happened could rely on superfan Mario Gomez, a college student who attends most games at Yankee Stadium and several on the road.
Sitting in the outfield, Gomez had a clear view of the takedown by the quartet in the home purple and black.
"What’s his sprint speed?" he asked in the tweet. "He def hates [V]olpe."
The trespasser undoubtedly was arrested and charged. Policy throughout sports also has been for teams to ban such violators for life.
All kidding aside, this was far different than usual -- and too close for comfort.
“Usually it’s just some drunk idiot running out, having fun on a bet,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game. “He looked like he was mad at something. Glad they were able to secure him and nothing major happened.”
Although the fan shouted something to him, Volpe told reporters he didn't hear what it was.
“I was pretty startled by it all," he said, "but I thought the stadium security did a great job and got him out of there."
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