New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo on Wednesday addressed the fan-interference controversy that took place during his team’s eventual win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 on Tuesday, saying he “didn’t feel like it was too serious.”
To recap, two Yankees fans seated along the right-field line, who later identified themselves to ESPN as Austin Capobianco and John Peter, interfered with Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts as he made a play on a foul ball off the bat of Gleyber Torres. Capobianco grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and tried to pry the ball away from the outfielder. Peter, meantime, grabbed the wrist of Betts’ throwing arm. Torres was ruled out on the play on grounds of fan interference. Here’s a look at the entire sequence:
Both fans were barred by the Yankees from attending Game 5. The Yankees released a statement about the fans Wednesday afternoon, calling the incident “egregious and unacceptable.”
As for Verdugo, who was coincidentally was included in the February 2020 blockbuster that sent Betts from the Red Sox to the Dodgers, he called it “one of the more extreme” cases but wrote the incident off as “kind of New York.”
“I feel like that’s what you expect out here,” Verdugo said. “You expect some unique things. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like it was too serious. I think Mookie shook it off, too. You know, that’s just kind of the passion I guess New Yorkers have.”
Betts, while quite understandably upset at the moment it happened, did indeed seem to move quickly past the incident. “When it comes to the first-inning play, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said after Game 4. “We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine, he’s fine, everything is cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m gonna focus on. We gotta turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
Verdugo’s manager, Aaron Boone, was more forceful in his rebuke.
“There’s no place for that,” he said Wednesday. “You should never have hands on anyone. Never OK.”
The Dodgers will now try to forget all that happened Tuesday and focus on Game 5. A win would secure the World Series title, their first since 2020.
