Source: Justin Edmonds / Getty
Since the legalization of sports betting, fans have become increasingly bold in approaching athletes in public and at their games. However, a heckler recently took things too far at a Chicago White Sox game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Taking aim at the visiting team, a fan yelled at Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte. Initially, no one knew what happened, only seeing a crying Marte being comforted by manager Torrey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo during a pitching change in the seventh inning. Even the broadcast attempted to determine what prompted the emotional breakdown, suggesting it could be because teammate Ildemaro Vargas had broken his foot earlier in the game.
But later it was confirmed that it was because the heckler made a comment about Marte’s deceased mother, who died in a car accident in 2017.
At the request of Lovullo and bench coach Jeff Banister, the fan was asked to be removed from the game. However, not only was he ejected from Guaranteed Rate Field, but he was also banned from all 30 MLB parks.
ESPN notes that, according to a White Sox spokesperson, ballpark security says the fan “is a 22-year-old who was very apologetic and remorseful after the fact, and admitted to being very inappropriate and stupid with his comments.”
“He wasn’t getting it and was very pompous, and it didn’t sit right with me,” Lovullo said of the remarks. “It was just a gross comment you wouldn’t say about anybody, let alone someone who lost their mom. We need better baseball fans. Baseball deserves better.”
Perdomo says that the entire team is aware that his mom, Elpidia Valdez, “was the world to him,” and remembers how distraught he was over her sudden passing.
He was placed on the bereavement list when he got the news, immediately traveling back to the Dominican Republic and posting a touching message to her on Instagram, begging for her to come back.
Marte hit a solo home run in the first inning of the Diamondbacks’ 4-1 win, but declined to comment on the unruly fan.
Social media, however, didn’t hesitate to comment on the unsportsmanlike play. See the reactions below.