NEW YORK — Two fans found their stay at Game 4 of the World Series to be brief after one grabbed the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, wedged it open and ripped out the baseball Tuesday night in Yankee Stadium.
The fan, identified as a 38-year-old Connecticut man named Austin Capobianco, and a fan next to him were immediately ejected from their right field seats in foul territory during the first inning.
The incident occurred with the Yankees down 2-0 and trying to avoid being swept in the Series. Gleyber Torres, leading off, lofted a pop fly that Betts got his glove on as his arm extended over the padded wall. Capobianco grabbed his glove with both hands and his friend, John Peter, grabbed Betts’s hand as a tussle ensued and Capobianco pried open the glove, knocking the ball onto the field. The umpires ruled fan interference on the play and Torres was out.
Capobianco told ESPN that he knew he was making the wrong move but that he and Peter had planned for such a moment.
“We always joke about the ball in our area,” Capobianco, a season-ticket holder, said when reached at a local bar after the game. “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.”
The Yankees went on to an 11-4 win and face elimination again tonight in Game 5 of the Series. The interference evoked memories of fans like Steve Bartman and Jeffrey Maier, but former MLB umpire Dale Scott called the incident “one of the most aggressive” he’d ever seen. Betts said he’d “never seen anything like that,” but was involved in an interference incident – minus the tussle – in the 2018 American League Championship Series when he was playing for the Boston Red Sox. In Game 1 of the Series this year, a fan reached over the outfield wall to catch a Torres flyball. On Tuesday night, Betts preferred to focus on Game 5.
“It doesn’t matter. We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine, he’s fine. Everything’s cool,” he told reporters. “We lost the game, that’s what I’m kind of focused on. We gotta turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
Dodgers infielder Tommy Edman called the incident “unacceptable,” although, like Betts, he was careful not to give the Yankees’ bulletin board material.
“That looked ridiculous from my perspective,” Edman said. ” … I’ve never seen anything like that.”
But Ana Flamengo, also a Yankees fan, had a different take, with her team trying to become the first in team to win the Series after trailing 0-3. “I told him he was my hero for trying to save the Yankees,” she told The Athletic. “It’s the championship game.”
As for the Capobiancos, they told ESPN that had been told they could return for Game 5, a matter the Yankees have not addressed.
“I know when I’m in the wrong and as soon as I did it, I was like, ‘Boys I’m out of here,’” Capobianco said. “I patrol that wall and they know that.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
