World Series: Yankees fans who interfered with Mookie Betts’ catch were ejected from Game 5

New York – Two New York Yankees fans which were thrown out by Game 4 of the World Series for interfering with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts has been ruled out of Game 5 on Wednesday evening.

Betts jumped the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres’ pop fly in the first inning Tuesday night, but a fan in the front row wearing a gray Yankees road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.

“Not good. There’s no room for that. It’s that simple,” New York manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “Come here, cheer, support your team, whatever. No room for that. I should never have my hands on anyone.”

The Yankees called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.” The team said the fans involved are season ticket holders, and the club gave their Game 5 tickets to Calvin Young, a childhood cancer patient living in New Jersey, and his family.

Young, 15, was unable to attend a press conference for children at the baseball field in September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The World Series appearance was his first postseason game at Yankee Stadium, according to the team.

“Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, but the exuberance of supporting a team can never cross the line and intentionally put players in physical danger,” the team said in a statement Wednesday. “The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the type of behavior exhibited last night. These fans will not be allowed to attend tonight’s game in any capacity.”

The Major League Baseball Players Association also expressed concerns about player safety and security.

“As with any incident on the ballpark affecting players, we have been in regular contact with league safety officials since last night’s incident and will continue to review both the response to that incident and the protective measures taken moving forward, starting tonight keep a close eye on it,” the spokesperson said. The union reported this in a statement.

Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hernández said he didn’t think there was anything to worry about Wednesday night.

“I played here six years against the Yankees, and I never see anything go wrong with the other team,” he said.

“Fans know they can’t do that, what that fan did last night,” Hernández added. “It happens, but unfortunately for him, he will be thinking about that play last night for a long time. … I’ve never seen anything like this before, but now that I see pictures and videos and all that stuff, it’s kind of crazy.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he doesn’t think his players are concerned about their safety at Yankee Stadium, and he believes banning the fans involved was an appropriate measure.

“If there’s one player I don’t think has any concerns, it would be Mookie, as he played a lot of games in this ballpark (with rival Boston). It was just an unfortunate circumstance. I’m glad it was handled appropriately, and we can just move on to tonight,” Roberts said. “As I understand it, they’ve started up. We didn’t need them to be here so they refunded their tickets. So that’s perfect, right?”

When the action took place, the Dodgers had an early two-run lead Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer.

“I saw it. It was perhaps one of the more extreme methods: trying to rip out a ball. But at the same time, that’s a bit of New York. I feel like that’s what you expect here. You expect some unique things,” Yankees fielder Alex Verdugo said Wednesday.

“In the end I didn’t feel like it was too serious. I think Mookie kind of shook it off too. That’s exactly the passion that New Yorkers have, I think.”

Betts reacted angrily at the time, but he quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by officials for obstructing fans.

“When it comes to the person in the game, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said after the Yankees expanded the series with a 11-4 win. “We lost. It’s not relevant. I’m doing well. He’s doing well.’

Three years ago, Verdugo was playing in the outfield for the Red Sox when he was hit in the back by a ball thrown from the left field seats at Yankee Stadium. He was not injured.

Boston manager Alex Cora briefly pulled his team off the field that night, and so was the fan who threw the ball banned for life from attending major league matches.

The following season, fans packed the infamous right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium Cleveland Guardians outfielders pelted with bottles, cans and other debris in a chaotic scene after New York rallied for a walk-off victory.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other Yankees players ran to the outfield fence, trying to calm the crowd.

Moments earlier, Guardians outfielder Myles Straw had climbed over the fence on the left side to come face to face with at least one fan, while another fan nearby made a derogatory gesture.

Cleveland players were angry, saying a fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, who had just run hard into the wall chasing an tying run.

Straw called Yankees fans the “worst fan base in the world” and was greeted the next day with chants of “Crybaby!” by the famous Bleacher Creatures in the Bronx. The Yankees said that day they had increased security in the stands.

Torres has had two at-bats in this World Series that were affected by fan interference. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached over the top of the fence and caught the ball. Torres got a double.

Torres hit a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning on Tuesday evening.