A few inches – and a fan’s arms – separated Anthony Volpe from October heroics. Instead, the Yankees are swept by Tampa

What a hero he would have been. The New York-born heir to Derek Jeter’s spot on the diamond, Anthony Volpe has become an unfortunate avatar of all the ways this iteration of the Yankees has failed to live up to the legacy set by the Jeter Era teams. The first-round draft pick turned homegrown source of hope-unrealized debuted in 2023 and has never had even an average offensive season. This year, he spent over a month demoted to the minors. He entered October with just two home runs. He’ll leave it that way, too. The Yankees season is over. They were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays – who also bested them in the division despite a bottom-three payroll compared to New York’s third-highest in baseball – in the American League Division Series. Blame belongs up and down the lineup as well as directed at the fallibility of human calf muscles. Ask the New York fans left disappointed, and they’ll say blame belongs higher up as well. Following the final out, the chant that rang out around Yankee Stadium was “Fire Aaron Boone!” But before that, for a moment in the sixth inning Wednesday night, it looked like Volpe may have at least staved off the reckoning, if not fully reversed the momentum back in the Yankees’ favor. Over two games in Tampa, the Rays had embarrassed the Yankees – nearly no hitting them in Game 1 and putting the ball in play and watching the errors ensue in Game 2. Back home in the Bronx with the Yanks’ backs against the wall, Volpe was given the start at short for the first time in the series. Before the game, Boone said he hoped Volpe would provide a “spark.” It wasn’t the worst plan. In the fourth, Volpe scored to tie the game at two. In the sixth, he came to the plate with two outs, a runner on, and the Yankees trailing by two. And then he did it – the storybook version of how that at bat would play out if this was about a guy who finally got his moment. Volpe sent the 1-0 pitch 357 feet to left field, over the outstretched glove of the Rays’ left fielder and … onto the outstretched arms of a navy blue-clad Yankee fan. It clanked awkwardly, not quite caught but deflected back into the stands. “It is up! It is out! It’s a home run!” the broadcast declared. Tie game. New life for the beleaguered Bombers. “Off the bat, I like the chances,” the Yankees captain, the sidelined Aaron Judge, said later of the pivotal play. His manager wasn’t as convinced. “I was a little concerned right away,” Boone said. “I wasn’t sure.” Neither were the umpires on the field, who sent it for a replay review. The slowed-down, side angle was clear: Fan interference. Volpe was awarded a double, driving in just one run to make the game 4-3 in favor of Tampa. It was the last scoring for either side on the night. “Seeing the replay and seeing it unfold, I thought they did the right thing,” Boone said. “I thought they got it right.” They did, and that’s the important part. It doesn’t matter that almost exactly 30 years ago Jeter himself hit a similar ball that was ruled a home run despite interference from a young fan. That home run, which was allowed to stand, tied an ALCS game that was eventually won in a postseason that was eventually a World Series championship that eventually started a dynasty. Could it have all hinged on that swing? On a ball that was only expected to be a home run in 12 out of 30 stadiums (the park where it was taking place not among them)? Maybe. But not likely. Even the most dedicated and determined Yankee fan would struggle to blame external forces for their elimination. It wasn’t a blown call. It wasn’t even really a game of inches. “We had more opportunities, we had a bunch more innings left,” Volpe said after the game was over, that same 4-3 scoreline in favor of the Rays. “We just didn’t come back.” “Ultimately we didn’t swing the bats enough in this series to move on,” Boone said. And so instead they’ll go home. Another season in the books without a new Yankee ring. Another winter of wondering whether it all could have been different, or if there’s something fundamentally rotten in the Bronx. It’s not the umpire’s fault or the fan’s fault they lost. It’s not Volpe’s fault either – not entirely or even predominantly or any more than anyone else in that lineup. He’s just the one left wondering – if he got another few inches on that fly ball – would he have been the hero?