
Ask a kindergartner to come up with the name of a cartoon character, and they might offer up the name “Frankie Lasagna.”
But it’s actually just the name of one Toronto restaurant owner (yes, really), who’s gone viral for a reason he’ll probably never live down at last night’s Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees game.
Frankie Lasagna missed out on the home run ball hit by Yankees slugger Aaron Judge last night, which was his 61st home run of the regular season, tying the American League record set by Roger Maris back in 1961.
No one got the ball 𤣠pic.twitter.com/KS1Nr3fiTr
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 29, 2022
The ball was rumoured to be worth $250,000, according to SCP Auctions president David Kohler via The New York Times.
Usually, the Yankees (or MLB, the Baseball Hall of Fame, or Judge himself) would offer the catcher a package-they-couldn’t-refuse kind of deal for a historic milestone, but it ended up just landing in Toronto’s bullpen before they returned it to New York’s dugout via pitcher Zack Britton.
Canadian Press sports editor Scott Brown tweeted out the name along with an interview via Gregory Strong with the beleaguered Lasagna.
Blue Jays fan Frankie Lasagna (!) just misses catching Aaron Judge's 61st home run ball
Story from our roving baseball reporter @GregoryStrongCP https://t.co/0YthQMMBF0
— Scott Brown (@BrownieScott) September 29, 2022
Brown clarified Lasagna was not the most animated man in the original clip, but merely just one of the fans nearby in attendance.
To be fair to Mr. Lasagna … he is not the fan in the Bichette jersey who threw his glove after missing the homerun ball. He is the fan to his left who also swiped at the ball but it was just out of his reach. The other fan declined comment. https://t.co/Ri1c8aMro5
— Scott Brown (@BrownieScott) September 29, 2022
Still, the internet, as you can probably guess, loved it; it’s not every day you hear about a man named Frankie Lasagna.
I guess you could say that lasagna was… half-baked https://t.co/bGhNJBaT6l pic.twitter.com/ygAmNfRHvQ
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) September 29, 2022
Betty Spaghetti would have caught it. https://t.co/atXM2eZ2i8
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 29, 2022
He cost himself a pretty penne https://t.co/spugXxdXTx
— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) September 29, 2022
A lot of layers to this story. https://t.co/2ICuHF5yWK
— Christopher Crawford (@Crawford_MILB) September 29, 2022
it got pasta him https://t.co/qGi7t5z8r6
— mĆchael (@MikeTaddow) September 29, 2022
Reporter: Mr. Lasagna, how are you feeling right now?
Frankie Lasagna: Call me Frankie. Mr. Lasagna is my father's name. https://t.co/QaS797Kul1— vintown (@vintown) September 29, 2022
He cannoli do so much. https://t.co/Qe8npWkIDO
— Mike (@mike__bauer) September 29, 2022
Some people weren’t so sure that it was his real name.
Are we sure thatās actually Frankie Lasagna or is he an impasta? https://t.co/N19rudtR4Q
— Greg Zumach (@IvyFutures) September 29, 2022
Listen, if I became an international memeā¦Iām absolutely telling the reporter my name is Frankie Lasagna. https://t.co/0Mq7MbIoE0
— Patrick Damp #WeMakeKDKA (@SynonymForWet) September 29, 2022
If you see ol’ Frankie roaming around the Rogers Centre anytime soon, offer him up a beer. Or maybe ask if you can drop by for a tender lasagna, hopefully, made with love and care.