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 wall in foul territory and initially caught Gleyber Torres’ pop up 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’ non-glove hand.
The Yankees called the fans’ behaviour “egregious and unacceptable.”
“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 behaviour 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.
The Dodgers had a two-run lead at the time of the incident on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer. Betts reacted angrily to the play, and Torres was immediately called out on fan interference.
“When it comes to the person in play, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said after the Yankees extended the series with an 11-4 victory. “We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine. He’s fine. Everything’s cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m kind of focused on. We got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
It was the second time Torres had an at-bat impacted by fan interference this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, Torres hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached over and caught the ball. Torres was awarded a double.
Torres later hit a three-run homer to right field for New York’s final runs.