Right. Why? Their tickets should have been revoked with no refund.
Wow, you’re not kidding.
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.
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.
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.
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.
wouldn’t he be violating “contract terms” associated with ticket?
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.
I don’t think a judge would care. Penalties imposed by a private party don’t have to be “reasonable.”
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Well, the umps, I guess, wanted to make it clear why the ball was in the stands.
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:
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.
I forget, were there runners on base? If so, it could have been interference.
No, it was leading off the bottom of the first.
And the umpire clearly calls interference.