NEW YORK – Two New York Yankees fans who were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series for interfering with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts have been banned from Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres’ pop fly in the first inning Tuesday night, 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.
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“Not good. There’s no place for that. It’s as simple as that,” New York manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “Come here, cheer, root for your team, whatever. No place for that. Should never have hands on anyone.”
The Yankees called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.” The team said the fans involved are season-ticket holders, and the club gave their Game 5 tickets to Calvin Young, a pediatric cancer patient who lives in New Jersey, and his family.
Young, 15, was unable to attend a kids-only news conference at the ballpark in September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The World Series appearance was his first postseason game at Yankee Stadium, according to the team.
“Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, however the exuberance of supporting one’s team can never cross the line into intentionally putting players at physical risk," the team said Wednesday in a statement. "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 expressed concern 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 said he didn’t think there was anything to worry about Wednesday night.
“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," Hernández added. “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 said he doesn't think his players worry about their safety at Yankee Stadium, and he believes banning the fans involved was an appropriate measure.
“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 said. “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?”
When the play occurred, the Dodgers had an early two-run lead on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer.
“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,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said Wednesday.
“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.”
Betts reacted angrily in the moment, but he quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by umpires on fan interference.
“That was wild,” Betts said after the Dodgers won Game 5 to win 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 playing the outfield for the Red Sox when he was struck in the back by a ball thrown from the left-field seats at Yankee Stadium. He was not hurt.
Boston manager Alex Cora briefly pulled his team off the field that night, and the fan who threw the ball was banned for life from attending big league games.
The following season, fans in the notoriously rowdy right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium pelted Cleveland Guardians outfielders with bottles, cans and other debris in a chaotic scene after New York rallied for a walk-off win.
Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other Yankees players rushed toward the outfield fence, trying to calm the crowd.
Moments earlier, Guardians outfielder Myles Straw had climbed the chain-link fence in left to confront face-to-face at least one fan, while another fan nearby made a derogatory gesture.
Cleveland players were angry because they said a fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, who had just run hard into the wall chasing a tying double.
Straw called Yankees fans the “worst fan base on the planet” and was greeted the next day with chants of “Crybaby!” by the famed Bleacher Creatures in the Bronx. The Yankees said that day they increased security in the stands.
Torres has had two at-bats impacted by fan interference in this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached over the top of the fence and caught the ball. Torres was awarded a double.
Torres hit a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning Tuesday night.
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A previous version of this story corrected that Torres’ homer did not provide the final runs of the night for the Yankees.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb