A fan who heckled Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Tuesday night has been banned indefinitely from all major league stadiums, a person with direct knowledge of the decision said.
Marte was seen in tears on the field after the spectator yelled a derogatory comment about Marte’s late mother during a seventh-inning at-bat in Arizona’s 4-1 win over Chicago.
A White Sox spokesperson said the security staff at the ballpark relayed that the 22-year-old fan was “very apologetic and remorseful after the fact, and admitted to being very inappropriate and stupid with his comments.”
Photo: AP
Another person confirmed that the MLB had banned the fan from all big league stadiums. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because the punishment was not announced by the league.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo and bench coach Jeff Banister asked for the fan to be removed from the game.
Before Wednesday’s series finale, Lovullo said he “had little bit of an interaction with the fan” as he was yelling at Marte.
Photo: AFP
“He wasn’t getting it and was very pompous, and it didn’t sit right with me,” Lovullo said. “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,” he added.
Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017. Marte, who hit a solo home run in the first inning on Tuesday night, was seen visibly upset during a pitching change in the bottom of the seventh as Lovullo put his arm around the player and consoled him.
“I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers,” the Arizona Republic quoted Lovullo as saying. “I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.”
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said the fan “should be banned, for sure” and called for the MLB to intervene.
“That can’t happen,” he said. “We can’t continue to do that … here in MLB.”