Mohamed Magdy  

31 w

Yankee Stadium fans ejected for prying ball

Two fans at Yankee Stadium were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series after one pried a foul ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts on Tuesday night.

Betts leaped at the wall in foul territory and initially caught Gleyber Torres' popup in the first inning, but a fan in the first row, Austin Capobianco, grabbed Betts' glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Capobianco's friend, John Peter, then grabbed Betts' non-glove hand.

Betts reacted angrily, and Torres was immediately ruled out by right-field umpire Mark Carlson on fan interference.

Capobianco, a Yankees season-ticket holder, said he knew he would be in trouble but chose to grab and open Betts' glove nonetheless, telling ESPN that he and Peter often discuss this exact scenario: If a foul ball comes their way, they're going to do what they can to help their team.

We always joke about the ball in our area, Capobianco, 38, said at a local bar after the game. "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.

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