If you turned off the fifth game of the World Series after the Los Angeles Dodgers secured an early 3–0 lead, you probably would’ve been shocked to tune back in nearly three hours later to find that the game was barely halfway through. And if you switched channels again after that, you’d be floored to find a score two hours later that resembled a football score as the Astros toppled the Dodgers 13–12 to take a 3–2 lead in the series.
There were seven home runs across five hours that saw the Dodgers handily gain and repeatedly give up the lead against—and ultimately lose to—the Astros. One of those home runs in particular sums up what it feels like to be a Dodgers fan after last night’s loss.
Buddy’s wife caught a World Series home run ball and his friend STOLE IT AND THREW IT BACK! pic.twitter.com/Maaq8zj8Ia
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 30, 2017
For context, this wasn’t just any home run—and not just because Yasiel Puig’s two-run shot in the ninth inning put the Dodgers within one run of evening up the score. No, this was the 22nd homer between the two teams, which set a World Series record for the most home runs in a series.
We see a Houston Astros fan come up with the home run ball and hoist it in the air in celebration as she embraces her orange-shirted husband next to her.
A man two seats over from her then proceeds to reach over and snatch the ball—to the horror of orange shirt guy.
Finally, our ball thief hurtles the ball back onto the field with a nonchalant decisiveness that makes it seem like this is far from the first historic homer he’s tossed back.
As it turns out, the thief and his target aren’t strangers; they’re actually in-laws. According to the Houston Chronicle, he grabbed the ball away from his sister-in-law, who claims she would’ve thrown the ball back onto the field anyway, per tradition when a visiting team hits a home run.
Really, we couldn’t think of a more fitting way to symbolize the Dodgers’ evening of triumph-turned-defeat than this rejected home run ball. There’s the elation of procuring the ball following the home run, the “what the hell is going on” feeling of it being taken away and the utter sense of of defeat as it’s tossed back onto the field.
Here’s hoping Dodgers fans won’t have any opposing team home run balls to toss back as the series returns to Chavez Ravine for game six.
Skip to 6:46 in the video below for the full home run ball rejection replay.