After briefly being hailed as heroes, the New York Yankees fans who pulled a ball out of Mookie Betts’ glove after grabbing his wrists won’t see their team, or any other, for a long time.
Austin Capobianco and John P. Hansen were reportedly banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks due to the incident.
During the bottom of the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series, with the Yankees trailing three games to none, Gleyber Torres hit a fly ball down the right field line that headed into the stands. Betts jumped toward the ball and caught it, but was apparently in a danger zone.
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Fans Austin Capobianco (left) and John P. Hansen (right) interfere with Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers as he attempts to catch a fly ball in foul territory during the first inning of Game 4 of the 2024 World Series against New York. Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 29, 2024, in the Bronx borough of New York City. The play resulted in an out. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
A Yankee fan in the front row tried to rip the glove off of Betts’ hand and remove the ball, and another fan grabbed Betts’s wrists when the ball finally came out.
Fans were escorted out of the stadium but were initially allowed to return the next night before the team changed course and donated the tickets to a child with cancer and his family.
The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder didn’t talk much about the ordeal after Game 4, but after Game 5, he let it all out.
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts catches in foul territory as a New York Yankees fan interferes during the first inning of Game 4 of the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium in New York on October 29, 2024. (Brad Penner/Image Images)
“That was crazy, man. It was really crazy. I had never experienced anything like that. I was telling my wife that it was like the second time in my life that I wanted to fight someone,” Betts told FOX after he won his third World Series title. “I get it, man. I get it. I don’t know if he was trying to get the ball, I don’t know what he was really trying to do. But I had to do what I had to do, and it is what it is.”
Capobianco defended his actions, saying it was to help the Yankees.
“We always joke about the ball in our area,” Capobianco told ESPN. “We’re not going to go out of our way to attack. If it’s in our area, we’re going to attack.”
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts catches a ball in foul territory against the New York Yankees in the first inning during Game 4 of the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium. (Robert Deutsch/Image Images)
The fans were in the seats of a friend who has been a season ticket holder since 1990. That fan is allowed to keep the season tickets.
