New York Yankees fan Austin Capobianco has faced a torrent of hate messages in the months since he wrestled a foul ball from the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts in the first inning of Game 4 of the 2024 World Series.
And not everything was communicated with words.
‘It was poop,’ Capobianco told The Athletic about the suspicious package his parents received at their Connecticut home.
Not wanting to open it, the family searched the return address only to learn that it was sent from a company that specializes is shipping excrement to unwitting recipients.
And that may not be the worst of it. Others have sent disturbing photographs to Capobianco and his family.
‘All the stuff my family has had to deal with because of me,’ said Capobianco, who admittedly regrets the incident. ‘The nonstop phone calls. The people sending me pictures of their ugly looking penises. The packages.’
This has been Capobianco’s life ever since the October 29 incident.
As Dodgers fans are quick to recall, Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres’ pop fly in the first inning. But, standing in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey was Capobianco, who grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan, John P. Hansen, grabbed Betts’ bare hand.
The umpires ruled fan interference, resulting in an ounce for Torres and some harsh words between Capobianco and Betts.
‘Mookie was swearing at us,’ Austin’s brother Darren Capobianco said at the time, according to The Athletic.
‘I would really say ‘F*** you guys,” Betts said in late December alongside Kevin Hart. ‘I get them trying to get the ball. Cool. But you tried to grab my s***. I was in the moment. So I thought about throwing a ball at them. And then I realized, ‘Mook, you ain’t gonna do s***. Go back to right field.’
The blame immediately fell on the fans.
‘I didn’t know how bad it was,’ Austin Capobianco said, ‘but I knew it was bad.’
As a result, MLB issued a permanent ban to Capobianco and Hansen in January for interfering with Betts.
‘On October 29, 2024, during Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, you interfered with play by intentionally and forcefully grabbing a player,’ read the league’s letter to Capobianco and Hansen, which was first reported by the New York Post. ‘Your conduct posed a serious risk to the health and safety of the player and went far over the line of acceptable fan behavior.’
‘Based on your conduct, Major League Baseball is banning you indefinitely from all MLB stadiums, offices, and other facilities,’ the letter continued. ‘You are also hereby banned indefinitely from attending any events sponsored by or associated with MLB. Please be advised that if you are discovered at any MLB property or event, you will be removed from the premises and subject to arrest for trespass.’
MLB has previously issued league-wide bans for fans who trespass on the field or threaten baseball personnel. A fan who approached Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. at Colorado’s Coors Field in 2023 received a similar ban.
Capobianco and Hansen were ejected from Game 4 and banned from Game 5 the following night. The Yankees called the behavior ‘egregious and unacceptable.’ The team said in January that the two fans MLB banned were not season ticket holders.
Given that his season seats were close to the action, Capobianco told reporters at the time he considered giving his team a boost from his front-row perch.
‘We always joke about the ball in our area,’ Capobianco told ESPN. ‘We’re not going to go out of our way to attack. If it’s in our area, we’re going to ”D” up.
‘Someone defends, someone knocks the ball. We talk about it. We’re willing to do this.’
But he backed off that comment with The Athletic, though, saying he the plan was to simply knock the ball loose – not to ever touch a player.
The Yankees won 11-4 to stave off elimination, but would drop the following game to lose the series to the Dodgers.
Rob Gronkowski, a college friend of Capobianco’s at the University of Arizona, addressed the issue on FanDuel TV.
‘He is all in for his teams, he is all in for the Yankees. I remember him talking about the Yankees all the time, how he loves them so much. That describes him perfectly, doing whatever it takes to help his team out. He is a beauty.’
Fans disagreed though, and Capobianco has since faced a regular stream of hateful messages.
‘You’re a f***ing idiot and a joke, fatass,’ one person said, as reported by The Athletic.
