DeWayne Wise appeared to make a spectacular catch Tuesday night in the seventh inning of the New York Yankees' Game 2 win over the Cleveland Indians. Wise went over the left field fence and fell into the stands while chasing a foul ball hit by Jack Hannahan. When he popped back up, third-base umpire Mike DiMuro credited him with the catch and the third out in the inning. Replay showed that Wise never had control of the ball, however.
You can check out the video for yourself at MLB.com.
Replay shows a man in a red shirt picking up the ball and holding it above his head several seats over from where Wise landed. Wise acted nonchalant as he jogged off the field, even accepting congratulations from Derek Jeter.
"What am I supposed to do? Run back to left field? I ran off the field." - Dewayne Wise
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 27, 2012
DiMuro, to his credit, faced the media afterward and apologized for the gaffe. He admitted "now that I see the tape it's obvious that the ball fell out of his glove."
DiMuro: "In hindsight, I should have asked him to show me the ball since he fell into the stands and out of my line of vision."
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) June 27, 2012
After seeing the replay on the scoreboard, Hannahan argued the play with DiMuro. The third baseman was subsequently thrown out of the game.
The play will no doubt stoke the debate over the use of video review in baseball.
-- See Pinstripe Alley for complete discussion and analysis of the Yankees.