Yankees fan films reaction to game-tying home run

One New York Yankees fan filmed his reaction to Rafael Devers’ game-tying home run off Aroldis Champan.

With Rafael Devers down to his last strike against Aroldis Champan and the New York Yankees holding a 2-1 lead, Twitter user/Youtuber JoezMcfLy turned his cell-phone camera on himself to celebrate the inevitable victory. His confidence was understandable. Devers, a 20-year-old rookie, had played in only 15 MLB games since being called up on July 25. To add to the confidence, Chapman had not given up a home run to a left-hander since Luke Scott took him deep on June 26, 2011.

All signs pointed to the rookie going down quietly against the flame-throwing closer. Mr. McFly and his neighbors in the crowd were on the edge of their seats waiting to celebrate an important win on Sunday night that would have given them a series victory and a chance to keep the Boston Red Sox from continuing to widen their lead in the AL East.

As it became clear that Devers’ fly ball to left-center field was not going to be held by Yankee Stadium’s fences, McFly’s facial expression switched from elation to misery in an instant. Seeing a Yankees fan experience such a terrible swing of emotions really pulls at the ol’ heartstrings. People forget that they have won 27 World Series titles. Really, I think they do.

Any fan who seriously follows a sports team has had a moment like this. We’ve all been there when the entire stadium goes quiet and fans start heading dejectedly for the exits. Most of us are also lucky enough to have been on the winning side as well. That’s the beauty of sports and what keeps all of us coming back for more.

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After a few stagnant years, the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is experiencing a massive revival, and moments like this only serve to remind us of the best days of the rivalry in the early 2000s when they went at it in the ALCS on an almost annual basis. Both teams are very young and loaded with exciting talent. As hard as it will be watching them square off on Sunday Night Baseball every other weekend for the next five years, there’s no denying baseball is better off when Yankees-Red Sox really means something.