NEW YORK – No matter how expensive World Series tickets are, it does not afford fans the right to interfere with the field of play.
Nor pry the ball from Mookie Betts.
A pair of New York Yankees fans were ejected after one was called for fan interference on a foul pop fly down the right field line off the bat of New York Yankees leadoff batter Gleyber Torres in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night.
Right field umpire Mark Carlson immediately signaled fan interference. But that wasn’t the end of it.
A fan seated next to the one called for interference tried prying the ball out of Betts’ glove, a sheepish grin on his face. The other fan seemed to complain that the ball was within the seating area, and thus fair game.
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Neither got a baseball nor won the argument. They were escorted from their seats quickly by stadium security and a Major League Baseball spokesperson confirmed the fans were ejected.
After the Dodgers’ 11-4 loss, Betts didn’t want to harp on the incident.
‘It’s irrelevant, we lost.’ Betts said. ‘I’m fine, he’s fine. Everything is cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m focused on.’
It left the Dodgers scratching their heads at the sequence, particularly jarring since it came on just the second pitch of the game.
‘Never seen anything like it,’ says Dodgers starting pitcher Ben Casparius. ‘It’s pretty interesting. And it’s obviously very early on in the game and kind of set the tone.’
Casparius hails from Westport, Conn., about 45 miles northeast of Yankee Stadium. So sure, he’s never seen anything like it – but also wasn’t shocked things might go a bit sideways at the ballyard in the Bronx.
‘No. Not at all surprised,’ he says. ‘Fans are into it, it just happened to be one of those things where they got tangled up.’
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