Two New York Yankees fans were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series for interfering with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts and have been banned from attending Game 5 on Wednesday night. During the first inning on Tuesday, Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory to catch Gleyber Torres’ pop fly, but a fan in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.
“There’s no place for that. It’s as simple as that,” New York manager Aaron Boone remarked on Wednesday. “Come here, cheer, root for your team, whatever. No place for that. Should never have hands on anyone.”
The Yankees termed the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.” The fans involved, who are season-ticket holders, had their Game 5 tickets reassigned to Calvin Young, a pediatric cancer patient from New Jersey. Young, 15, missed a kids-only news conference at the ballpark in September due to health reasons, and the World Series game marks his first postseason appearance at Yankee Stadium.
“Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, but the exuberance of supporting one’s team can never cross the line into intentionally putting players at physical risk,” the team said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the type of behavior displayed last night. These fans will not be permitted to attend tonight’s game in any capacity.”
The Major League Baseball Players Association also voiced concerns about player safety and security. “As with every incident at the ballpark that affects players, we have been in regular contact with league security officials since last night’s incident and will be closely tracking both the response to that incident and the protective measures taken going forward, beginning tonight,” the union said in a statement.
Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hernández downplayed concerns about safety for Wednesday night’s game. “I’ve played here for six years against the Yankees, and I never see anything go wrong with the opposite team,” he said. “Fans know they cannot do that, what that fan did last night. It happens, but unfortunately for him, he’s going to be thinking about that play last night for a long time. … I’ve never seen anything like it, but now that I see pictures and videos and all that stuff, it’s a little crazy.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed a similar sentiment, stating that his players are not overly concerned about their safety at Yankee Stadium and agreeing that banning the fans was the right decision. “If there’s one player that I don’t think is worried (it) would be Mookie, given that he played a lot of games in this ballpark (with rival Boston). It was just an unfortunate circumstance. I’m glad it was dealt with the right way, and we can just move on to tonight,” Roberts commented. “As I understand it, they got booted. We didn’t need them to be here, so they refunded their tickets. So that’s perfect, right?”
At the time of the incident, the Dodgers were leading by two runs thanks to Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer. Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo commented on the situation, “I saw it. It was maybe one of the more extreme — kind of trying to rip a ball out. But at the same time, that’s kind of New York. I feel like that’s what you expect out here. You expect some unique things.”
“At the end of the day, I didn’t feel it was too serious. I think Mookie kind of shook it off, too. That’s just kind of the passion, I guess, New Yorkers have,” Verdugo added.
Betts initially reacted angrily but quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by the umpires for fan interference. “That was wild,” Betts expressed after the Dodgers won Game 5 to secure the World Series. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. I was telling my wife, that was like the second time in my life I ever wanted to fight someone. I get it man. I get it. I don’t know what he was really trying to do. But he had to do what he had to do. And it is what it is.”
Three years ago, Verdugo was struck in the back by a ball thrown from the left-field seats at Yankee Stadium while playing for the Red Sox, though he was not hurt. Boston manager Alex Cora briefly pulled his team off the field, and the fan who threw the ball was banned for life from attending major league games.
The following season saw fans in Yankee Stadium’s right-field bleachers hurling bottles, cans, and other debris at Cleveland Guardians outfielders after a chaotic walk-off win by New York. Yankees players rushed to calm the crowd, and Guardians outfielder Myles Straw climbed the fence to confront fans face-to-face after another fan made a derogatory gesture. Cleveland players were particularly incensed because a fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan.
Straw labeled Yankees fans the “worst fan base on the planet,” a comment that earned him chants of “Crybaby!” from Yankees’ right-field bleacher fans the next day. In response, the Yankees said they had increased security in the stands.
Gleyber Torres has experienced fan interference twice during this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball to left field that a fan caught over the fence, resulting in a double for Torres. Then, in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, Torres hit a three-run homer to right field.
