Yes, Danny Ainge supports the local sports teams. But he also calls them like he sees them.
So, while Boston Red Sox fans will appreciate that Ainge stayed up to watch the entirety of Wednesday night’s marathon Game 4 of the American League Championship Series — which ended after 1 a.m. ET — they probably don’t want to hear what the Boston Celtics’ president of basketball operations thought of that controversial fan interference play in the first inning.
The play in question: Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve hit a deep fly ball that escaped the glove of Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts and landed in the Minute Maid Park seats. After a video review, umpiring crew chief Joe West determined a fan interfered with Betts’ ability to catch the ball, overturning Altuve’s two-run home run and ruling him out.
Ainge, who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and enjoyed a brief Major League Baseball career, was asked about the controversial call Thursday morning.
“It looked like (Betts) closed his glove early on that play,” Ainge said during his weekly interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich” radio show. “And you know what was interesting: Was it (Astros center fielder George) Springer who missed that almost amazing catch? It was almost the same type of thing with no fan interference.
“I mean, there’s no guarantee that that ball was going to be caught. And it looked like it was over the fence and in the stands. That was a tough one.”
Ainge was referencing a Christian Vazquez double in the sixth inning that Springer nearly caught while crashing into the center field wall. In Ainge’s mind, Betts’ attempted catch was just as difficult as Springer’s play (if not more difficult), so the umpires shouldn’t have assumed Betts would have made the play if the fan hadn’t interfered.
Long story short: Ainge thinks Altuve got jobbed.
“It looked like his glove was closing before the ball was getting there,” Ainge said of Betts. “Yeah, I thought it should have been a home run.”
To be clear, Ainge was looking at the play from a purely objective baseball lens. He’s still glad the Red Sox pulled out an 8-6 win to move within one game of the World Series.
But Sox fans may take him to task for his opinion, so he may want to throw on a disguise the next time he ventures to his local Chipotle.
