Something this ridiculous hasn’t happened in the 40-plus years of John Sterling calling baseball games.
“I’ve seen people go for baseballs before. Have I ever, in my 40-odd years of broadcasting baseball, I’ve never seen that,” Sterling said on WFAN of the Yankees fans interfering with Mookie Betts on Tuesday night.
During the first inning of the Yankees’ 11-4 Game 4 win in The Bronx, Gleyber Torres hit a pop-up foul down the right-field line and Betts leaped into the stands to make a catch in foul territory.
A fan decided to interject himself into the game by ripping the ball out of Betts’ glove, clearly fan interference, while another grabbed Betts’ wrist.
Those actions ultimately ended the pair’s night at Yankee Stadium.
Sterling’s radio partner, Suzyn Waldman, also hadn’t seen anything like this in her career watching and dissecting baseball.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Waldman said. “Take the ball out of a player’s glove?”
“That’s interference. It’s got to be,” Waldman said. “Well, [Betts] got the ball, and a fan took it right out of his glove. You can see it: [the fans] got his glove. The fan in the Yankee uniform is prying the ball out of Mookie’s glove. This guy should be kicked out of this game. Oh my goodness.”
Sterling reacted similarly, adding he “couldn’t agree more” that the fan should be removed from the game as the bystander is “allowed to root and that’s all.”
The fan was quickly removed from the game in what was clearly a line-crossing moment that draws some comparisons to Jeffrey Maier, who was 12 years old in 1996, and interfered on a Derek Jeter at-bat against the Orioles.
There was also a fan interference play in Game 1 on another Torres at-bat; this time, it was correctly ruled a double.
