The Big Lead

World Series: Yankees fans crossed a clear line; why didn't media call it out?

By J.P. Hoornstra

Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) makes a catch in foul territory as a New York Yankees fan interferes during the first inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) makes a catch in foul territory as a New York Yankees fan interferes during the first inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Nobody likes being the proverbial "adult in the room." Taking responsibility in a situation when others won't is no way to win a popularity contest. Call it one of life's necessary evils.

When two New York Yankees fans grabbed the hands of Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday, the adults in the room stepped forward quickly. The right field umpire — as well as several security guards on the field — were practically in position to pull Betts away from the fans had Betts not done so himself. Stadium security then escorted the fans out of their seats.

Wednesday, the Yankees announced the two fans were banned from Game 5 — in effect, the remainder of the season. Win or lose, no baseball will be played at Yankee Stadium after Wednesday. The team and the MLB Players' Association both condemned the fans' behavior.

Against this backdrop, the response from the media has been curiously mixed.

Rob Gronkowski is three years removed from his final NFL game, well into the realm of "media personality" that began during his career with the New England Patriots. He also happens to be a college buddy of the fan who tried to wrestle the baseball from Betts' glove, Austin Capobianco. His comments on the Up & Adams Show Wednesday strained credulity.

"He is a beauty," Gronkowski said. "I just want to say congratulations for shining when your moment came."

Gronkowski later called the fans' behavior "unacceptable," but it's hard to reconcile that sentiment with his congratulating Capobianco for doing something against the rules of fan conduct.

Gronkowski's media brand — and his comments Wednesday — personify a "boys will be boys" attitude. Still, if anyone were to make the obvious, responsible comment Wednesday, it should be a former or current professional athlete. What the Yankees fans did constitutes a workplace safety issue, and Betts shouldn't need to suffer an injury for that to be obvious to anyone watching.

Oakland A's outfielder Brent Rooker, an MLB player-turned-correspondent assigned to the World Series, made the players' case in response to a fan question on Twitter/X:

"Try to catch the ball," Rooker wrote. "If instinctually that causes you to accidentally reach a little over the wall, we get it. The second you forcefully grab a player you should be kicked out and not let back in."

ESPN had a chance to report this side of the story when it interviewed Capobianco after the game. It did not. Reporter Jesse Rogers, in fact, compared Capobianco's behavior to that of a literal boy:

"The situation was reminiscent of Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS at Yankee Stadium and the controversy that ensued, when preteen New York fan Jeffrey Maier intercepted a fly ball that seemed destined for the glove of Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco," Rogers wrote. "With no replay review at that time, the hit went for a Derek Jeter home run and became the stuff of October baseball legend."

Leave it to actual Jeffrey Maier to be the voice of the adult in the room.

“Watching yesterday was obviously very different," Maier, now 40, told The Athletic. "I think there was an initial plan perhaps from that fan to get the ball, but once it’s in the glove… I can’t really quite understand what the thought process was there, certainly from two adults.”

Even Fox Sports' Joe Davis, the lead play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers during the regular season, seemed to get swept up in the moment when he chuckled and gave Capobianco an "A for effort" upon watching the replay in real time.

Analyst John Smoltz dutifully chimed in right away: "well, he won't be watching the game much longer."

F for effort, actually. Anyone in the media who encourages fan interference gets an F, too.

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