Yankees fans in viral Mookie Betts World Series clash get astonishing punishment
The New York Yankees fans who went viral for trying to pry the ball out of Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts’ glove have been banned from baseball indefinitely.
The two fans, Austin Capobianco and John P. Hansen, were ejected when they grabbed Betts’ hand in Game 4 after he grabbed a Gleyber Torres flyball for pushing his fingers apart until the ball fell out of his glove .
“Your conduct posed a serious risk to player health and safety and went far beyond the bounds of acceptable fan behavior,” reads a letter from Major League Baseball obtained by the New York Postsaid.
Based on your conduct, Major League Baseball will indefinitely ban you from all MLB stadiums, offices and other facilities.”
It also emerged that the two men took the place of a season ticket holder who was unable to attend the match, according to the Post.
Capobianco said after the game that he had been willing to make such a move for a long time and that he usually watched the Yankees in that part of the stadium.
Two Yankees fans have been banned from baseball indefinitely due to the Mookie Betts World Series incident
The fans were ejected after trying to snatch the ball from Mookie Betts’ glove
They were not allowed to return for World Series Game 5 after the incident at Yankee Stadium
“We always joke about the ball around us,” he told ESPN. “We’re not going to go out of our way to attack. If it’s in our region, we’ll go to ‘D’. Someone defends, someone knocks the ball.
‘We talk about it. We are willing to do this. I know when I’m wrong and as soon as I did it I was like, “Guys, I’m out of here.” I patrol that wall and they know it.’
Betts was dismissive of the incident at the time, saying in the locker room: “When it comes to the person in the game, it doesn’t matter.
We have lost. It’s not relevant. I’m doing well. He’s doing well. Everything is cool. We lost the game and I’m kind of focused on that. We need to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
The Dodgers won Game 5 and earned a 4-1 victory in the World Series in New York.
Over the holidays, Betts appeared on a television show with Kevin Hart and was asked again about the incident.
‘I would really say: ‘f*** you’. For example, try to grab the ball, cool. But you tried to take my shit,” Betts said.
‘I was in the moment. So I thought about throwing the ball to them. And then I realized, ‘Mook, you’re not going to do any nonsense. Go back to right field.”
The MLB decision comes about two months before the start of the 2025 season. The Yankees open against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium on March 27.