Major League Baseball

Who caught Aaron Judge’s 61st homer? Blue Jays bullpen coach

Updated Sep. 29, 2022 11:06 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Aaron Judge's 61st home run of the season is a priceless piece of memorabilia, likely one of the more valuable balls in recent MLB history. And it didn't cost the New York Yankees slugger anything to retrieve it. 

Judge's record-tying blast rocketed off the glove of a Blue Jays fan and bounced into the hand of Toronto bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, who promptly handed the ball over to Yankees reliever Zack Britton.

That led to a hilarious sequence of tweets from Buschmann's wife, FOX NFL and soccer reporter Sara Walsh.

The Blue Jays hired Buschmann as a bullpen coach prior to the 2019 season. 

The 38-year-old former pitcher was briefly in the majors in 2016, making three appearances with the Diamondbacks. He had a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and a walk. 

Buschmann spent 10 years in the minors, compiling a 92-79 mark and 4.21 ERA over 308 games from 2006-16. He was a 15th-round pick by the Padres in 2006 out of Vanderbilt.

Buschmann's generosity begat more of it, as Judge gave the ball to his mother, Patty. She and her husband Wayne adopted Judge the day after he was born.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball

New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays

Aaron Judge