The fan who appeared to have the best shot at catching Aaron Judge's historic home run Wednesday at Rogers Centre broke his silence on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night.
Kyle Mulligan was identified by the late-night American comedy show as the man in the front row of the 100 level in a Bo Bichette jersey. Mulligan, identified as an electrical contractor, just missed catching Judge's 61st home run with the ball bouncing just below him into the Blue Jays bullpen behind the left-field fence.
The Associated Press reported the man wearing the Bichette jersey -- identified by the Kimmel show as Mulligan -- was clearly distraught on Wednesday and declined interview requests at the game. A man beside him, a restaurant owner named Frankie Lasagna, did do interviews and his name and tale went viral on social media after The Canadian Press first published his story.
“From my perspective, I went to that game thinking I was going to catch that ball," Mulligan told Kimmel via video call. "I told everybody I was going to come home with that ball. I knew it was coming, I was ready for it, I went for it and I think Frankie Lasagna -- the guy that everybody thinks I am -- bumped my glove a little and I missed it by two inches.”
After Mulligan mentioned Lasagna's name, Kimmel responded: "What are the odds a guy named Frankie Lasagna would not be from the Bronx?"
The segment, near the start of Kimmel's show, showed Judge's home run and also clips of the Sportsnet broadcast with Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez's comments on the near miss by the fan.
Asked how he was feeling just over 24 hours after the moment, Mulligan said: "Terrible."
Kimmel also asked Mulligan about his day job.
"Should people whose homes you worked on be concerned you screwed up their wiring, too?" Kimmel said.
"Absolutely not. I’m a better electrician than I am a baseball player," Mulligan responded.
Kimmel said estimates have the ball being worth $200,000-$250,000.
Asked what he would have done with the money, Mulligan said: "I was going to put these kids of mine through college."
The camera then flashed to his kids.
“Your children literally are not going to college?" Kimmel asked.
"They’ll be alright still, but that would have helped. Six figures, right?" Mulligan said.
The Blue Jays returned the ball to the Yankees, allowing Judge to have it without an issue. Judge's Toronto tater tied Roger Maris' American League record of 61 homers in a season.
Kimmel ended the segment by saying the show was sending Mulligan and his wife to New York City for New Year's Eve so they could see the ball drop.
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