A fan who was ejected from Tuesday’s game at Rate Field after heckling Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte has been banned indefinitely from attending games at all 30 MLB ballparks.
The Chicago White Sox confirmed earlier reporting from multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, that the 22-year-old fan will be prohibited from attending baseball games indefinitely after the incident.
During the incident, the fan yelled derogatory comments toward Marte about his late mother, who was killed in a car accident in 2017. Marte was seen in tears on the field during a seventh inning pitching change, with Arizona’s coaching staff asking for the fan to be ejected from the stadium.
According to a White Sox spokesperson, the security staff at the ballpark relayed that the fan was “very apologetic and remorseful after the fact, and admitted to being very inappropriate and stupid with his comments.”
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.
According to Lovullo, Marte heard the taunts during his at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, and was later consoled by his teammates on the field when he began to fight back tears during a pitching change.
“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.”
According to the Associated Press, Marte’s mother Elpidia Valdez was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017.
Marte declined to comment on the incident after the game.