# Egregious fan interference at MLB game - why not lifetime ban? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [October 30, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471 "2024-10-30T20:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/21 "2024-10-31T03:34:43Z")
Right. Why? Their tickets should have been revoked with no refund. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/22 "2024-10-31T06:33:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > They were interviewed after the incident and admitted exactly what they did was what they agreed to beforehand. Wow, you’re not kidding. > **["I know when I'm in the wrong" - Yankees fan Austin Capobianco breaks silence...](https://www.soapcentral.com/human-interest/news-i-know-i-m-wrong-yankees-fan-austin-capobianco-breaks-silence-attempting-rip-ball-mookie-betts-world-series)** > > Austin Capobianco, a Yankees fan, spoke out for the first time after the Game 4, 2024 World Series incident in which he tried to pull a baseball from Mookie Betts’ glove. He “patrols” the wall? Does he not know what “spectator sport” means? Whatever hesitation I might have had about a lifetime ban after the discussion in this thread has evaporated. He’s a malign, self centered monster and the sport cannot trust him to control himself in the future. Hell, any sport: I wouldn’t object if, say, the NBA were to disinvite him from future attendance as well. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/23 "2024-10-31T10:09:43Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Of course there were a few occasions when a client managed to get blotto by 11am and misbehave with a cheerleader. I guess its a good thing that it is now shocking that from the cheerleader’s point of view, this reads “of course, sometimes you’ll be sexually assaulted”. Its not that it happened, its that it happened enough to be seen as inevitable and routine. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/24 "2024-10-31T12:46:29Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > He “patrols” the wall? Does he not know what “spectator sport” means? > > Whatever hesitation I might have had about a lifetime ban after the discussion in this thread has evaporated. He’s a malign, self centered monster and the sport cannot trust him to control himself in the future. Hell, any sport: I wouldn’t object if, say, the NBA were to disinvite him from future attendance as well. That bluster came before he was informed that he was banned for Game 5 and that’s what’s going to put an end to his time as a season ticket holder. He genuinely thought that the fans would love him. Had he shown a little humility and apologized for a stupid heat of the moment move, he may have been able to keep his seats for next year. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/25 "2024-10-31T14:22:26Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He genuinely thought that the fans would love him. The problem is that they (certainly not all, but enough) do. ESPN followed these guys out of the stadium, where they were met as heroes - people were taking pictures with them, getting their autographs, etc. Theycsill definitely leverage their 15 minutes of fame into something that bilks Yankee fandom out of some heard-earned money. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/26 "2024-10-31T17:05:12Z")
wouldn’t he be violating “contract terms” associated with ticket? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/27 "2024-10-31T17:20:10Z")
While the fan surly violated the contract terms printed on his ticket, I doubt it spells out the penalties based on all the infractions possible . A judge could decide that a permanent ban from all MLB games was an unreasonable penalty based on what happened during the game. I’m not saying that’s what should happen, only that exacting such a drastic penalty might be reversed by a judge. Hence a possible lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/28 "2024-10-31T17:24:18Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > A judge could decide that a permanent ban from all MLB games was an unreasonable penalty based on what happened during the game. I don’t think a judge would care. Penalties imposed by a private party don’t have to be “reasonable.” ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/29 "2024-10-31T18:01:00Z")
If you read the small print on the tickets, they basically reserve the right to throw you out at any time for any reason, or no particular reason. I find it hard to imagine any court telling a team they have to un-ban any fan, particularly one who assaulted a player on national TV. I agree, lifetime ban is the appropriate response here. That behavior is completely unacceptable, and they’ve publicly admitted that it was premeditated rather than a momentary lapse of judgment. I’d like to see them strapped into _Clockwork Orange_-style chairs and forced to watch the top of the fifth last night on an endless loop, but that would be cruel and unusual punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/30 "2024-10-31T18:04:30Z")
Hope the OP doesn’t mind my asking questions about the call itself, not the fan behavior. AIUI, fan interference only applies if the ball was going to land in the field of play but the fan reached into the field of play. This ball seems to have had a trajectory that put it right on the _very_ border where it would have landed on the wall ledge had nobody touched it - not sure if that was considered “in the stands” or not. Is that field of play or not? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/31 "2024-10-31T18:21:33Z")
I’m not much of a Game Room denizen and I’m no kind of major sports fan at all, but this was news, and my wife and I both saw the video several times. We were both aghast. Ab-so-freaking-lute-ly disgusting behavior. I don’t care what consequences they suffer for this. As a guy who used to regularly watch the Tour De France, there were innumerable times that I was disgusted by the behavior of _those_ fans, too. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/32 "2024-10-31T18:22:37Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > AIUI, fan interference only applies if the ball was going to land in the field of play but the fan reached into the field of play. I believe you are correct. The ledge is part of the stands. In this case, had a fan touched the ball _before_ it was caught by Betts, it would have not been interference, and the ball would have been dead at that point. But Betts clearly caught the ball. Once it was secured in his glove, it was ‘his’ ball, and the fans removing the ball from his glove was clearly interference, although I’m not sure there’s ever been a case quite like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/33 "2024-10-31T18:56:25Z")
I just don’t understand how putting your hands on a player while he’s in the field of play isn’t assault? Prying his glove open, clutching his wrist. These things are assault. They could’ve led to serious injury, and no player should have to worry about being injured purposefully by a fan while he’s doing his job. They should be in jail. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/34 "2024-10-31T18:58:24Z")
I have absolutely no doubt that their collective actions _did_ constitute assault and battery. It’s only a question of whether they get charged or not. These things become awfully political. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/35 "2024-10-31T18:58:35Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > But Betts clearly caught the ball. Once it was secured in his glove, it was ‘his’ ball, and the fans removing the ball from his glove was clearly interference, although I’m not sure there’s ever been a case quite like this one. I’m going to be nitpicky here. It wasn’t fan interference, it was a put out. What the fan did had no effect on the play. Had they reached over the rail and snagged the ball or pushed his glove out of the way to prevent the catch, it would have been fan interference. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/36 "2024-10-31T19:01:54Z")
Well, the umps, I guess, wanted to make it clear why the ball was in the stands. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/37 "2024-10-31T19:08:28Z")
I think I should correct myself. In New York, it seems that _actual injury_ is required (either with intent to injure or recklessness) – even for a 3d Degree Misdemeanor Assaults conviction: [**SOURCE**](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/120.00) ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/38 "2024-10-31T19:53:42Z")
I remember that terrible call (the ump later admitted that the replay “probably” showed that he made the wrong call) and also Reggie Jackson breaking up a double play by sticking his butt out to block the throw to first. It was in the 1978 World Series against the Dodgers. So, when A-Rod knocked the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s hand in the 2004 ALCS, I was somewhat surprised when the umps called interference against A-Rod in Yankee Stadium. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/39 "2024-10-31T20:49:42Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It wasn’t fan interference, it was a put out. I forget, were there runners on base? If so, it could have been interference. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471/40 "2024-10-31T22:12:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I forget, were there runners on base? No, it was leading off the bottom of the first. And the umpire clearly calls interference. > **[Yankees fans rip ball away from Mookie Betts on pop-fly out - ESPN Video](https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42080840)** > > Mookie Betts catches a foul popup but struggles with multiple Yankees fans, who knock the ball from his glove. The play was ruled an out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egregious-fan-interference-at-mlb-game-why-not-lifetime-ban/1009471.md?page=3)