SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — FOX 13 is your World Series station, and if you’ve been watching the series between the Dodgers and Yankees, it’s hard not to notice how fans on both sides have taken the liberty to interfere with play.
“That was uncalled for,” said local Dodger fan Rob Alles.
He was reacting to the encounter between two Yankee fans and Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts in Game 4.
Over for the catch on a Gleyber Torres foul ball down the right field line in the first inning, Betts literally had his glove pried open and the ball knocked loose.
It was ruled an out, and the fans were ejected from the game for the interference. But the audacity of the fans involved is what has other baseball fans talking.
“Maybe it will wake up Major League Baseball and they’ll start doing something about it, because that’s dangerous. What if they would have broken his wrist or something like that?” said Alles.
Backtracking to Game 1 in LA — a Dodgers fan interfered with another ball hit by Torres, the fan leaning over the outfield wall for the catch.
The potential home run was ruled a double.
“Those guys are playing a game on the field and you’re not part of the game, you’re a spectator. Let the athletes do their job,” said Kraig Williams, the director of communications for the Salt Lake Bees.
Williams, a long-time member of the Bees front office, added he’s not sure why fans these days seem entitled at Major League games to get involved in the action.
And like everyone else, his jaw dropped when he watched the Mookie Betts incident.
“I’ve been with the Bees for 10+ years now, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Williams. “It’s rare that we have fan issues to begin with, but that’s another level of fan issues that you have to deal with.”
The Yankees did deal with the issue. They announced that the two fans were banned from attending Game 5 Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
