In one of the wildest videos of a fan ever to come out of the World Series, two New York Yankees fans were ejected from Game 4 after grabbing Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts’ glove and arm and forcibly removing a ball he caught during the first inning at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.
Austin Capobianco, 38, a season-ticket holder from Connecticut, grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled out the ball after Betts caught Gleyber Torres’ foul pop-up. Another fan grabbed Betts’ non-glove hand during the incident.
“That was one of the most aggressive ‘fan ripping the ball out of his glove (incidents)’ that I’ve ever seen,” said former MLB umpire Dale Scott.
Umpires immediately called Torres out on fan interference.
Security escorted Capobianco and the second fan from the stadium after a brief argument where Capobianco claimed Betts’ glove had reached into foul territory.
“That looked ridiculous from my perspective,” said Dodgers’ Tommy Edman. “The guy was trying to yank (Betts’) glove off, pulling at his wrist, looked like he got ejected, and I’m glad he did. I’ve never seen anything like that. That was unacceptable.”
Betts downplayed the incident after the Yankees’ 11-4 victory and said Torres, who had flied out, didn’t dispute the umpire’s call.
“When it comes to the person in play, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine. He’s fine. Everything’s cool.”
This marked Torres’ second fan interference incident this Series, following the controversy at Game 1 at Dodger Stadium where a fan caught his fly ball, resulting in a ground-rule double.
Take a look —
The fact that these two Yankee fans acted like they didn’t do anything wrong… one held Mookie’s glove.. other one grabs Mookie’s hand and won’t let go. If this was done in Philly, social media would’ve melted down. pic.twitter.com/1mYTLHGFgt
— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) October 30, 2024
The two Yankees fans who forcefully took the baseball out of Mookie Betts glove have been EJECTED from the stadium.
I wouldn't be surprised if these two morons will never be able to go to attend an MLB game ever again.pic.twitter.com/Tw7eseAfYo
— Baseball Legends (@Leg_baseball) October 30, 2024