Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Faces in the Mookie Betts Fan Interference Photo, Ranked

It’s a rich tapestry of human emotion.

A rich tapestry of human emotion

Bob Levey/Getty Images

Game 4 of the ALCS was four hours and 33 minutes of drama, and the tension started in the bottom of the first when Jose Altuve hit a ball over the wall and Mookie Betts was unable to catch it because a fan got in the way. I’ll have a closer look at the play in just a second, but first I just want to examine this tremendous photograph of the critical moment. 

When Adam Jones was involved in a similar situation during the World Baseball Classic (but actually caught the ball), Kenny Ducey wrote post here ranking the faces of the fans in the frame. When I saw this photo of Betts I knew I had to do the same thing.

8. The guy who isn’t sure it was a good idea for the fan to try to catch the ball

7.  The guy who realizes this is going to go viral

6. The woman screaming at the top of her lungs

5. The guy who might be asleep

4. The guy who looks like he saw a ghost

3. The guy who just cost his team two runs

2. The guy who looks like he’s doing heavy reps at the gym

1. The guy who really went out of his way to interfere

This is the most controversial moment of the postseason

Mookie Betts was about to rob José Altuve of a home run ... until a fan's hand got in the way.

It was ruled an out on review. pic.twitter.com/NLzAnNJ1vj

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 18, 2018

So tell me, should this have been called an out due to fan interference or a home run?

Joe West called it fan interference and the MLB replay crew in New York agreed with him. But the rules clearly state that you can’t have fan interference if the player reaches over the wall. 

We probably would have had a better idea of whether Betts reached into the stands or the fan reached onto the field if we had a shot parallel to the wall, except...

MLB probably could devise the technology to figure these sorts of calls out more easily, but in the meantime I think this is a good solution:

Game 4 was all about defense

It’s really ironic that Betts didn’t make this catch when you see how many other defensive gems the Astros and Red Sox made last night. 

Betts gunned down the speedy Tony Kemp when he tried to stretch a single into a double.

Josh Reddick saved multiple runs with a catch on a sinking liner with the bases loaded.

Then Andrew Benintendi made an eerily similar catch in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.

This guy turned it around for the Knicks

The Knicks hadn’t hit a field goal when this guy stepped on the court and drained one from the center circle. Then the offense exploded for a franchise-record 49 points in the second quarter and they blew out the Hawks 126–107. 

The guy even caught the eye of Knicks coach David Fizdale.

[tweet:https://twitter.com/snytv/status/1052756362898407424

Bits & Pieces

WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins is expecting her first child. ... The hit Comedy Central show “Nathan for You” won’t be coming back for a fourth season. ... Astrology is total crap but you have to take a six-hour test to practice it. ... Ellen tried to set up U.S. Open champ Naomi Osaka with Hollywood megastar Michael B. Jordan. ... No matter how bad you think your job is it’s not as bad as the South Carolina divers who swam through 90 feet of raw sewage. ... NFL owners are quietly unsure if the Chargers’ move to Los Angeles will work out.

Navy’s uniforms for the Army-Navy game are fresh as hell

🚨ARMY-NAVY UNIFORM RELEASE🚨
Check out our 🔥 Bill the Goat themed @UnderArmour uniforms!#FearTheGoat 🐐 pic.twitter.com/zRVHVGwrep

— Navy Athletics (@NavyAthletics) October 17, 2018

David Price’s wife thinks he should do more yardwork

Bill Belichick won’t let you compare anyone to the best pass-rusher ever

Jets star Patrik Laine plays a lot of Fortnite

Patrik Laine might be clinically addicted to video games: Since the release of Fortnite, he's played 4,291 matches. from r/hockey

Zion Williamson can do more than just dunk

Vince Carter playing at age 42 will be my favorite narrative of the NBA season

That’s roughly 75 pounds of beer he’s running off with

(Illegal) beer run! Arlington police are searching for this guy who managed to grab five cases 😯 of beer from a convenience store and flee the scene. pic.twitter.com/gm4MbtcqUW

— WFAA (@wfaa) October 17, 2018

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.