A 22-year-old fan has reportedly been indefinitely banned from all MLB ballparks after making derogatory comments about Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte’s late mother during a game against the Chicago White Sox.
Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died tragically in a car accident in 2017.
Footage from the game showed the Diamondbacks’ second basemen clearly distraught over the fans’ comments, needing to be consoled by his manager, Torey Lovullo.
Marte was in tears for a prolonged period.
Video Emerges of the Fans’ Comments
A video has since been posted on social media, although it does not show exactly what the fan said, but rather purportedly shows him explaining his comments.
The clip shows a young man, allegedly a 22-year-old whose name we’ll withhold due to the potential consequences of his actions, being confronted by security and ejected from the game.
“I just said ‘hi’ to his mom,” the man says while smiling.
Bro, the fact that you’re even bringing up Marte’s mom shows you know exactly what happened to her. And the smile on your face the whole time warrants your removal.
Disgusting. Reprehensible.
@smartasskris #ketelmarte #diamondbacks #MLB #heckler #ejected #ratefield #chicago #whitesox #whitesoxbaseball #dbacksbaseball #ketelmarteupset #espn #barstoolsports #foxsports #benverlander ♬ original sound – Smartasskris
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Banned!
Perhaps this gentleman would be well served by having a conversation with a fellow Chicago White Sox fan, Pope Leo XIV.
He’ll have plenty of time to get right now, since Major League Baseball has announced he is banned from all professional ballparks indefinitely.
A source told the Associated Press that MLB “had banned the fan from all big league stadiums,” though the league has not made any official announcement.
Whether that becomes a lifetime ban seems unlikely.
A White Sox spokesperson also told the AP that, despite the video above, security found the fan to be “very apologetic and remorseful after the fact, and admitted to being very inappropriate and stupid with his comments.”
Good. Hopefully, he’ll attempt to get his words of remorse to Marte personally. Fans sometimes lose touch with the humanity of players in their excitement to cheer on their team or heckle the opposing players.
And while these comments were extremely ill-advised, it’d be better to level a temporary suspension so the fan learns from his mistakes, but doesn’t have to pay for them forever.
Marte is a two-time All-Star and 2023 National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.
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