Two baseball fans who grappled with a player for the ball during the sport’s biggest game have been banned from the next World Series match.
The shocking scenes took place in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night.
Los Angeles Dodgers fielder Mookie Betts leapt at the wall to try and catch the ball, hit by Gleyber Torres, when two New York Yankee fans grappled with him.
One grabbed his glove with both hands and wrenched the ball out, as another grabbed Betts’ non-glove hand.
As a result, they were ejected from the game, and have now been banned from Game 5 of the World Series – which takes place on Wednesday night.
It isn’t clear if the ban will be extended any further.
“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 Yankees said on Wednesday.
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They added: “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.”
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One of the fans was reportedly named as Austin Capobianco.
He spoke to ESPN after the incident, and was reported as saying: “We always joke about the ball in our area. We’re not going to go out of our way to attack. If it’s in our area, we’re going to ‘D’ up.
“Someone defends, someone knocks the ball. We talk about it. We’re willing to do this.”
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Betts reacted angrily at the time of the incident, but after the game described it as “irrelevant”.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s pretty interesting. It was obviously very early in the game so I think it kind of set the tone,” said Dodgers rookie pitcher Ben Casparius.
On Tuesday, the Yankees extended the series with an 11-4 victory, forcing the teams into Game 5, with the Dodgers leading 3-1 overall and one win away from clinching the Commissioner’s Trophy ahead of Wednesday’s crucial game.
