Mookie Betts Had Simple, NSFW Message for Interfering Yankees Fans From World Series
Two months after his club's World Series victory over the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Mookie Betts told everyone how he really feels about the Yankees fans who grabbed his glove and interfered with a play he was attempting to make during Game 4 of the Fall Classic.
During an appearance on a Peacock special titled Back That Year Up 2024 with comedians Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson earlier this week, Betts was encouraged to "say whatever" he wanted to say about the incident.
And the Dodgers star, who was previously rather courteous about the situation, didn't disappoint in his response, which was shared by Dodgers Nation on X (formerly Twitter).
"I would really say f--k you guys," Betts said. "Try and get the ball cool, but you're trying to grab my s--t."
Betts added that he thought about pulling a drastic move in reaction to the Yankees fans' interference, but his better angels prevailed.
"I was in the moment, so I thought about throwing the ball at them and then I realized, ‘Mook, you ain’t gonna do s–t, go back to right field!'"
In the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series, Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres lofted a ball into foul territory in right field, prompting Betts to drift towards the stands in pursuit of the ball. As Betts leaped toward the wall, he initially made the catch, but a Yankees fan grabbed his glove and, with the help of his friend, pried the ball out of the webbing.
Torres was ruled out on fan interference and the fan was ejected, but the brazen moment quickly took over the news cycle. The fan, Austin Capobianco, who attended the game with his friend John Peter, explained after the fact that he was merely "defending" his area.
"We always joke about the ball in our area," said Capobianco. "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."
MLB later asked the Yankees to ban the fans from attending Game 5. As for Betts, he was initially diplomatic while speaking to reporters after Game 4, but in the aftermath of the Dodgers' World Series victory, he admitted during an interview on the FOX Sports's postgame show that he was frustrated enough to "fight" the fans.
But Betts's comments to Hart and Thompson were the most unfiltered—and perhaps honest—ones he's made yet on the incident.