World Series: Yankees fans who interfered with catching Mookie Betts ejected from game five

New York – Two New York Yankees fans who were thrown out With Game four of the World Series for obstructing Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, he was ejected from Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Betts jumped the retaining wall at foul ball and caught Gleyber Torres’ fly ball in the first inning on Tuesday night, but the fan in the front row was wearing a gray Yankees road jersey he grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and took out the ball. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.

“Not good. There is no room for this. It’s as simple as that,” New York manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “Come here, cheer, support your team, whatever. There is no room for this. I should never touch anyone with my hands.

The Yankees called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.” The team said the fans involved were season ticket holders, and the club donated its tickets for the fifth game to Calvin Young, a pediatric cancer patient living in New Jersey, and his family.

Young, 15, was unable to attend a children-only news conference held at the stadium in September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The World Series appearance was its first postseason game at Yankee Stadium, according to the team.

“Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, but the enthusiasm that comes with supporting your team must never exceed the point of intentionally putting players at physical risk,” the team said in a statement Wednesday. “The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the conduct that occurred last night. These fans will not be able to attend today’s match in any capacity.”

The Major League Baseball Players Association also expressed concern about player safety.

“As with any on-field incident that affects players, we have been in regular contact with league safety officials since yesterday’s incident and will be closely monitoring both the response to this incident and future protective measures taken starting this evening.” he added. – the union said in a statement.

Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hernández said Wednesday night that he didn’t think there was anything to worry about.

“I’ve been playing here for six years against the Yankees and I’ve never seen anything bad happen to the other team,” he said.

“The fans know they can’t do what he did last night,” Hernández added. “It happens, but unfortunately for him, he will be thinking about yesterday’s play for a long time. … I’ve never seen anything like it, but now that I see photos and videos and stuff, it seems a little crazy to me.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he did not think his players were concerned about their safety at Yankee Stadium and believed banning fans attending the game was the appropriate measure.

“If I had to pick one player who I don’t think is worried, it would be Mookie, considering he’s played a lot of games in this stadium (against rival Boston). It was just an unfortunate coincidence. I’m glad this was handled the right way and we can move on tonight,” Roberts said. “As I understand it, they were kicked out. We didn’t need them here, so they returned their tickets. It’s the perfect solution, right?”

When the action came, the Dodgers had an early two-run lead Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer.

“I saw it. Perhaps it was one of the more extreme situations – something like trying to snatch the ball. But at the same time, it’s so New York. I have a feeling this is what you expect here. You expect special things,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said Wednesday.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t think it was anything too serious. I think Mookie recovered too. I guess it’s just the passion of New Yorkers.”

Betts reacted with anger at the moment, but quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by the officials for disturbing the fans.

“As far as the person playing, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said after the Yankees extended the series Victory 11-4. “We lost. It doesn’t matter. I’m fine. He’s fine.

Three years ago, Verdugo was pitching for the Red Sox when he was hit in the back by a ball thrown from the left field seat at Yankee Stadium. He wasn’t injured.

Boston manager Alex Cora briefly took his team off the field that evening, and the fan who threw the ball did so lifetime ban from attending big league matches.

The following season, fans sat in the notoriously noisy right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium in a chaotic scene, he threw bottles, cans and other debris at Cleveland Guardians outfielders after New York won.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other Yankees players rushed toward the outfield fence in an attempt to calm the crowd.

Moments earlier, Guardians outfielder Myles Straw scaled the chain-link fence in left field and came face-to-face with at least one fan, while another nearby fan made a derogatory gesture.

Cleveland players were furious because they said the fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, who had just hit the wall hard while chasing a tie.

Straw called Yankees fans “the worst fan base in the world” and was welcomed back the next day chants of “Crybaby!” by the famous Bleacher Creatures in the Bronx. The Yankees said that day that they had increased security in the stands.

Torres had two at-bats affected by fan interference during the World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of the first game at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball into left field and a fan reached over the fence and caught the ball. Torres received a double award.

Torres hit a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning on Tuesday night.