Fan banned by MLB after heckling Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte to tears

That person spoke on condition of anonymity because the punishment wasn't 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.

“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.”

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 Tuesday night, was seen visibly upset during a pitching change in the bottom of the seventh as Lovullo put his arm around his player and consoled him.

“I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers,” Lovullo said, according to the Arizona Republic. “I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.”

"(I told him): ‘I love you and I’m with you, and we’re all together and you’re not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy is an idiot. It shouldn’t have an impact on you.’”

Marte declined to comment on the incident through a team official. Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said the fan “should be banned, for sure” and called for MLB to intervene.

“That can’t happen,” Perdomo said. “We can’t continue to do that ... here in MLB.”

What did he SAY?

I didn’t hear what he SAID!

Gen Z are little psychopaths. They should bring the draft back just for them.

Probably something disgusting, that does not bear repeating.

I feel bad for Marte. To make a 31 year old Major League Baseball player break down sobbing in tears, would take pretty vile comments.

Too bad nobody got an opportunity to punch that punk waste of oxygen in the mouth. Especially Marte himself.

He heckled him about his mother, who died in a car accident in 2017

A few years ago, some classy Indiana Pacers-fan (sitting courtside) kept screaming at LeBron James that she hoped Bronny would die in a car accident. It was a just a few months after a friend of Bronny's -- who was a highly touted recruit -- was killed in a car accident moments after leaving workout. LeBron had enough! Pointed her out to the ref & had her ass tossed out of the arena. She had the nerve to act all innocent & make a boo-hoo face as she was marched out. And LeBron was mocked for that, but he was absolutely right. Beyond the pale.

[quote] “We need better baseball fans. Baseball deserves better.”

Ultimately, these sports leagues are selling a product. If they’re only attracting the lowest common denominator fans, they need to change some things to broaden their appeal.

Tickets to sporting events are outrageously priced to start. Throw in the cost of parking, $10 cups of beer and $8 hot dogs and its small wonder fans feel they have invested a small fortune in their team and have a right to say what ever to whom ever they please.

My partner and I go to his nephew’s hockey games. My partner will heckle and mock players on the other team. I’m like - they’re 16! It’s embarrassing, but what’s even more embarrassing is the number of people who also do it. Just watch the fucking game.

Fuck his tight pink hole!!!!!!

THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

R10, why are you with such a fucking asshole? Do you lack standards, self-esteem, or both?

Why didn't someone shoot that asshole in his mouthy mouth?

Agree with R3. These little monsters were raised on the Internet where one is free to spew any vile, indecent statement with nearly zero consequences. Animals are more respectful.

The real world does not work so anonymously and is not so dismissive of indecency and cruelty (mostly).

Good for MLB.

How much we want to bet he filmed himself doing it and the player's reactions?

Too many people think they can be edgelords in real life and are shocked when it has consequences.

But - this is NOTHING compared to what happens in European football matches - just straight up racist cheers and worse.

On the whole, American sport spectators are extremely well behaved compared to other countries and the football hooligans. Doesn't make this right - but this is more of an exception, where this stuff happens with regularity in other parts of the world.

Glad they identified him and banned him.

I'm reading a lot of fans attribute this behavior to the promotion of gambling within MLB. They say they've seen a decline in fan decorum in stadiums and respect towards players since MLB embraced sports betting recently and began promoting online betting at games and in broadcasts. Interesting observation.

R11 - 🤣🤣🤣

Entitled spoiled children. I go to tennis, baseball, football, and other sports and entertainment events like concerts and Broadway plays a few times a year because it's quite pricey and it baffles me the amount of young adults and children of just above toddler age with access to seats worth thousands and thousands dollars. My parents wouldn't shell out $100 for concerts when I was a kid and I'm not even of elderly age.

R17 - I don't know about that - there has always been bets on sports, legal or otherwise. It's the out of control - "hey man, it's just a joke/prank/etc." behavior among young men and social media views.

I did something outrageous and controversial - and I got 100k views! And there's a lot of assholes doing this very successfully and making money at it.

R9 MLB kind of runs counter to the claim that sporting event ticket prices are outlandish. For example, I could buy tickets to an Angels game next week for $8… inclusive of fees. Yes, that’s the Angels, but that’s true of a wide swath of MLB.

I’ve always felt that one of the reasons baseball remains relevant is that a family can still go to a baseball game for the price of a movie ticket.

Marte is Roz Chast's Sensitive Child:

I hate to be “that guy” and say this… but some anonymous asshole yells something that is undoubtedly hideous at you about your mother who has been dead for… eight years… and you fall to your knees in weeping tears in front of tens of thousands of people?

I’m glad that asshole is banned from MLB for life, rightly so. But my mother has also been gone for around that time and I cannot imagine anything some anonymous dickwad could say to me that would generate anything close to that kind of a reaction. There are some “issues” there too.

R12 I was going to post the same thing.

When did baseball players become such pussies? Jesus Christ!

I guess the real men are in hockey R10

That’s fucking mean and uncalled for. WTF is wrong with people?

Bunch of damn savages

R23 - you don't know - it could have been the upcoming anniversary of her death (next month), there could have been other things that happened to the family after she died that spiraled other people. He was 23 when she died - relatively early in his career.

He probably thinks often of what kind of life he could have given her. There could have been an argument before she died and he never got a chance to make it up.

Yes it was 8 years ago, but I believe she was a single mother and she was all he had.

It can be both things, R20. The sudden push for gambling apps throughout MLB has changed the experience for many of us. Being vaguely aware than some people see bookies to place illegal bets is a bit different than seeing betting apps advertised all over the stadiums, all over the merchandise, all over their social media outlets and, of course, in every commercial break. It's gross. It's changed the experience for many. It attracts a set of people who react to the game with a much different set of emotions than "I want my team to win." They're vicious and crude because they're only in it to make money, and they see the players as mere revenue generators and not actual people.

I'm just reporting what people are saying in sports-related social media, and what I've seen and heard as a baseball fan. A lot of regular fans feel something changed very recently and it coincides with MLB embracing sports betting as a new revenue stream. A lot of people, especially parents of small children, are offended by that.

Thanks for letting us know you're dead inside, R23.

Yeah, really. R23, you sound pretty insensitive.

R23 probably says "man up" a lot. Probably says it to small children.

If the spectator was sitting close enough to the field that the player could hear him, chances are the spectator was a guest sitting in a season ticket holder seat, most likely corporate owned He will face more consequences than just being banned from MLB for life

R31 - not necessarily - those season ticket seats are resold all the time - particularly for a Tue midweek game.

Pussy.

[quote] —Liberalism is emasculating men

Back under the bridge with you, Trolly.

I hold season tickets in a similar spot. Those aren't at all likely to be "corporate owned." Most corporations go for the box suites, not random seats with the hoi polloi. They might not even be season tickets seats, plenty of open seats up for grabs in those spots typically. White Sox are currently one of the worst teams with the worst attendance so you can bet those seats are not difficult to nab as a regular fan just buying a la carte.

Marte could beat the shit out of R23 with one hand tied behind his back.

R23 is the real pussy.

r17 I've seen the same things

R13 apparently has no bad qualities.

R17 and r20 - a couple of pitchers and their families have received death threats after their teams lost Players are linking the eise of online abuse and threats to gambling.

Soon after Lance McCullers Jr.'s family received online death threats following a tough start by the Astros pitcher, his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, overheard wife Kara talking on the phone about it. What followed was a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl.

"She asked me when I came home: 'Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'" McCullers told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "So those conversations are tough to deal with."

McCullers is one of two MLB pitchers whose families have received online death threats this month as internet abuse of players and their families is on the rise. Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media soon after the incident with McCullers to call out people who were threatening Hendriks' wife's life and directing "vile" comments at him.

The Astros contacted MLB security and the Houston Police Department following the threats to McCullers. A police spokesperson said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation.

And many players believe it's directly linked to the rise in legalized sports betting.

"You get a lot of DMs or stuff like that about you ruining someone's bet or something ridiculous like that," veteran Red Sox reliever Justin Wilson said. "I guess they should make better bets."

How exactly do you enforce such a ban? What's to prevent a banned individual from going up to the ticket office, saying, "One, please," paying cash, and taking his seat, no name mentioned?

[quote] "She asked me when I came home: 'Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'" McCullers told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "So those conversations are tough to deal with."

"Oh, FANK YOU! You fixded my cheeseburger!" my daughter then added.

Facial recognition software R40. Casinos use it too.

I thought he said something very bad...according to reports...that fan said " I sent your mom a text last night" !!!!

You get banned for this?

Fag!