A pair of New York Yankees fans tried their best to stop Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts on Tuesday.
Two Yankees fans sitting in the front row near the foul pole in right field were called for fan interference after they tried to rip Betts’ glove off of his hand as he made a play on a foul ball in Game 4 of the World Series.
Their attempt, which came as Betts was tracking down a fly ball from Gleyber Torres in the bottom of the first inning, was unsuccessful. Betts appeared to have made the play right as the ball reached the first row of seats at Yankee Stadium, and the two fans immediately tried to jump in and steal the ball. One fan actually ripped the ball out of Betts’ glove while apparently trying to pull the glove off of Betts’ hand completely.
Officials quickly called fan interference and granted Betts the out. Security ran up to the fans almost immediately, and the two were seen being walked out of the stands.
The fans were ejected, according to The Athletic. The fan who tried to rip Betts’ glove off was identified as Austin Capobianco, 38. Austin’s younger brother, Darren, told The Athletic that Betts was swearing at them.
“I just see the ball kind of — I don’t want to say [go] up for grabs, if that makes sense,” Darren Capobianco said, via The Athletic. “And then Mookie was swearing at us. Not good.”
One Yankees fan, Ana from Connecticut, who was standing nearby, told me she told the guy he was a “hero” for trying to break up the play.
“It’s a championship game,” she said. pic.twitter.com/l5bKHAsRlk
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) October 30, 2024
Austin, who is a Yankees season-ticket holder, declined to comment on the incident to The Athletic via text message. He said he just wanted to “watch the game.”
Betts downplayed the incident postgame, telling reporters in front of his locker, “It doesn’t matter. We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine, he’s fine. Everything’s cool. We lost the game, that’s what I’m kind of focused on. We gotta turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
Mookie Betts wasn’t interested in talking about the incident with the two fans in the first inning, calling it “irrelevant” to the final result of the game. pic.twitter.com/t1TJKdvG25
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 30, 2024
Betts was involved in a similar incident with fans during the ALCS in 2018, when he was with the Boston Red Sox. There have been several incidents of fan interference throughout the postseason, too, including in Game 1 of the World Series, when a fan reached over the outfield wall and caught a Torres fly ball. That play was ruled a double.
The Dodgers entered Tuesday’s game with a 3-0 lead in the series, and they jumped up 2-0 immediately when Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. Freeman has hit a home run in all four World Series games and in six straight World Series games dating to his last appearance in 2021, both of which are records.
Despite falling into the early hole, the Yankees flew ahead to an 11-4 win thanks largely to a grand slam from Anthony Volpe in the third inning and a three-run homer from Torres in the eighth. The Dodgers are looking for their first World Series title since 2020. The Yankees haven’t won since 2009.
No team has successfully rallied from an 0-3 hole in World Series history. Game 5 is set for Wednesday night in New York.
