Inside The Pinstripes

Dodgers Star Mookie Betts Sends Scathing 3-Word Message to Interfering Yankees Fans

Mookie Betts didn't mince words when denouncing the two New York Yankees fans who interfered with his catch during the World Series.

Grant Young

Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) reacts after making 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. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) reacts after making 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. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Perhaps the most controversial moment of the 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers occurred in Game 4, when Dodgers superstar right fielder Mookie Betts was interfered with by two fans when trying to make a catch.

Former Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres popped a ball down the right-field line in the first inning of that October 29 contest. Betts tracked the ball down and made a nice jumping catch in foul territory. However, as soon as he did so, a Yankees fan (who ESPN reported was named Austin Capobianco) pried the ball out of his glove. As the ball fell out of Betts' glove, Capobianco's friend John Peter grabbed the Dodgers star's glove hand.

Umpires ultimately declared the catch made, and these two interfering Yankees fans were ejected from the World Series game.

However, that didn't stop Betts from sending some harsh words these fans' way, which he relayed during comedian duo Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson's “Back That Year Up 2024” special on Peacock earlier this week.

“I would really say, ‘F*** you guys,'” Betts was quoted saying of these two fans in the special, according to a December 27 article from Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post.

He then added, "Try and get the ball, cool. But you’re trying to grab my s***... 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***, go back to right field!'”

Betts and his Dodger squad ultimately got the last laugh, as they defeated the Yankees in five games to become 2024 MLB World Series champions.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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