Aaron Judge stepped to the plate in the eighth inning of a spring training game with the Yankees up 3-0. After battling through a sequence of sliders and changeups, Judge turned on an 86-mph changeup low and in, launching it deep over the left field area. The ball appeared to clear the foul pole, which is shorter due to the minor league stadium setup, and disappeared into the trees beyond the fence. No one could say with certainty where it landed because of the lack of contrast and limited outfield seating that would normally help track the ball’s path.
From some angles, it looked fair. From others, it looked foul. The third base umpire was forced to make the call since there’s no foul pole camera, and he seemed completely lost tracking the ball in the bright sky. He appeared to guess based on where he thought it landed. Replay didn’t provide definitive proof to overturn the call, so the homer was ruled foul. Aaron Boone was livid. He argued the call hard, got tossed, and later explained that several people in the Yankees dugout clearly thought it was fair, including base coach Luis Rojas and Judge himself. Boone suggested the home plate umpire should be the one making that call in small stadiums like this, given a better line of sight.
Everyone watching saw how flawed the setup was. The short foul poles and poor camera angles made it nearly impossible to know the truth. But Boone’s frustration was clear—the Yankees lost a Judge home run not because the ball was foul, but because no one had the tools to call it right.