The Los Angeles Dodgers’ only loss to the New York Yankees came in Game 4 of the World Series, which began on a strange note as Mookie Betts was grabbed by two fans while attempting to make a catch during the bottom of the first inning.
Betts initially came up with a leaping grab of Gleyber Torres’ fly ball in foul territory before a fan identified as Austin Capobianco grabbed his glove with both hands and ripped the ball out.
Capobianco was accompanied by his friend, John Peter, who grabbed Betts’ right hand during the process. An out was immediately called by right-field umpire Mark Carlson on the basis of fan interference.
The fans were then ejected from Yankee Stadium and banned from returning for Game 5. The Yankees originally planned on letting them come back, but MLB requested that they do not be permitted to attend.
Max Muncy discussed the incident and called for the fans to receive lifetime bans from every MLB stadium, via the “Foul Territory” show:
“First off, thankfully Mookie didn’t get hurt. You’re talking about your arm hanging over the wall like that, it’s very easy to get hyperextended, snap something. So thankfully he didn’t get hurt. But it should’ve been an instant lifetime ban from all MLB stadiums right there. You want to initiate that kind of contact, it should be an instant lifetime ban. You’re not even allowed anywhere near any park ever again. I think if you’re talking about those are the kinds of consequences, it’s going to eliminate some of that stuff.
“Instead of just saying, ‘Oh, he can’t come to the next game but he still gets his season tickets next year,’ or whatever. That’s not really a consequence. ‘Oh, you had to go spend a night in jail.’ That’s not entirely a huge consequence to some of these people.
“They’re obviously rabid fans if they have season tickets and they’re there and have that idea in their head that they were going to do that. They’re serious fans, so if you’re talking about you can’t ever come to another baseball game ever again, that’s going to put some serious doubt in peoples’ heads over whether or not they want to do something like that.”
As Muncy noted, the fans’ decision to interfere with Betts didn’t just happen at the spur of the moment. In an interview with ESPN, they detailed their plan to interfere if it meant helping the Yankees win.
As the scene unfolded in live time, the fans could be seen arguing that Betts reached into the stands, and not that they reached over into the field of play.
Mookie Betts shares true feelings toward Yankees fans
Following the loss, Betts did not give much attention to the incident. He said it was “irrelevant” and mentioned not being aware at the time he was grabbed.
However, Betts later shared his true feelings on the incident and admitted he wanted to fight the fans who interfered with him.
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