Fan at Yankee Stadium evokes Derek Jeter comparison with great catch of foul ball

There's a lot to like about the catch the fan at Yankee Stadium makes in the video above. He's wearing a glove, which some people don't like, but they're wrong. There's no way he makes the catch without it. And a foul ball must have been unexpected, because the batter, Chris Stewart, was a right-handed hitter. Rarely do right-handed hitters put foul balls where the fan was sitting. Way to be on your toes, literally and figuratively.

He also makes an all-out effort to catch the ball, slamming his left arm and full torso into the rows of seats behind him. Terrific grit. And, ouch. As Mike Blowers of the Seattle Mariners broadcast team says, "He's going to feel that in the morning."

No matter, because this guy got PUMPED. Primal screams, forceful high-fives, likely bro hugs (off camera). He was proud of himself, as he should have been. There was nothing nonchalant about it. David Cone, part of the YES Mystery Wheel of New York Yankees TV broadcasters, said the catch was "Like Derek Jeter in the playoffs a few years back." I think he's referring to the catch Jeter made against the A's in the 2001 playoffs. Or it could have been the one against the Red Sox in July 2004.

Well, the guy didn't appear to draw blood, and Jeter had a longer way to run, and almost everything he does has a nonchalance about it — that's one of the reasons he's Jeter — but it's an OK comparison for live television, and it probably crossed the mind of a viewer or two, as well, that it might be Jeter-like. I don't have a problem with the fan's catch, anything about it, except for the jersey the guy was wearing.

Does that look like a licensed Mariano Rivera jersey to you?

I don't like the font of the No. 42. Seems off. I don't like the color. It's too light. Even the pinstripes. It's not even close to what the Yankees wear on the field. I'm afraid we're going to have to eject this young man, nullify his catch and confiscate his ball because of obvious jersey violations.

Now, the same thing goes for the guy next to him in the Bernie Williams replica jersey, but for another reason. While the color is right, and the font is right, the Yankees don't put their names on their jerseys ever (even though this one appears to be licensed by MLB). Sorry, son, you're going to have to leave too.

What an unfortunate ending to what seemed an inspiring story.

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