MLB fans have the privilege of being part of the show, but have no right to be part of the game

Martin Rogers

FOX Sports Insider

Oh sport, and all its fine lines that are so important. A blade of grass here, an extra coat of paint on a post there, a fraction of a second on a clock.

In baseball, there is the line between fair and foul that can separate glory from disaster, and then there is also the line between fan behavior that is either overly enthusiastic (fair) or dangerously obnoxious (foul).

What happened Tuesday night between Mookie Betts and two New York Yankees fans undoubtedly falls into the latter category. In the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series, Betts jumped up to grab a Gleyber Torres pop-up on the right field wall, but after he caught the ball, front-row fan Austin Capobianco snatched it from him alongside from the glove John Peter grabbed Betts' uncatching arm.

Both fans were ejected and Capobianco was reportedly told he would be arrested if the pair tried to break into Game 5 (8:08 p.m. ET on FOX). If this is the only punishment meted out, it appears to be heavily on the lenient side given the level of interference and potential injury that may have been inflicted on Betts, the Los Angeles Dodgers star.

It's a touchy subject, and it's easy to see why the immediate ban was implemented to address the immediate issue – Game 5 is the final game of the season at Yankee Stadium, even if New York is in a position to to keep the series alive – to perhaps buy time to decide on something more rigorous.

Yankees fan pulls the ball out of Mookie Betts' glove in Game 4

(RELATED: Yankees ban fans from Game 5 who grabbed Betts)

It is thorny, especially because of the already mentioned narrow line. There is no excuse for what Capobianco and Peter did, quite the opposite. If a ban were imposed for several seasons or more, there would be no argument here.

What's a little disturbing, however, is that aside from the two key actions that went beyond any reasonable standard, there were elements of the action that actually exemplified the magic of baseball.

The fact that fans are so close to the action that they can literally be in the airspace of the field is part of baseball's time-honored tradition. The fact that you can catch a ball on the way to the stands and if you do, you get to keep it forever. The fact that fans care so much about their team's soul coursing through their veins, especially as November approaches, especially when it's the Series, especially when it's a storied rivalry like New York and Los Angeles acts.

(RELATED: Complete coverage of the World Series)

But amidst all the excitement, there has to be some kind of decency. Shout, cheer, yell, scream and hurl insults if you really have to, but let's understand clearly what role the fan plays.

We're talking about the 12th Man and his fans being part of the fabric of their ball club. They're part of the show, of course, because we all remember COVID and empty stadiums and how strange and scary everything was.

Part of the entertainment, yes, but not part of the game, at least not in any way other than fraying an opposing player's nerves with a collective roar. Sing “Who's Your Daddy” all you want, but for heaven's sake keep your hands off the players – a statement that shouldn't be necessary but apparently is.

Can the Yankees come back and win the World Series?

Do not touch gloves unless one is offered to you as a punch. Do not open anyone's glove to get the ball, be it a fellow fan or a player. Don't run onto the field because that's stupid and wastes time and you'll get violently attacked and then thrown out for doing so. And don't do anything that could affect the outcome of the competition, even if you're a cute smiley kid like Jeffrey Maier was in 1996.

Being a fan is a privilege, even if it is expensive because interest in this World Series is so feverish. Paying for these tickets does not give you any additional benefits or waive the basic behavior requirement.

With all the tens of thousands of games that have gone smoothly over time, how many repetitions of what happened to Betts do you think would have to happen before changes were made to the ballpark experience?

This is a great World Series, highlighted by the mere presence of Shohei Ohtani, by Freddie Freeman's impossible streak, by the Yankees' stirring revival in Game 4 and the tantalizing possibility that this thing might not be quite over yet.

With all of this, it honestly hurts a little to deal with such a disappointing side issue like this. Sometimes that's just the nature of things. And sometimes it can be a memory.

Regardless of whether the ball is a foul or not, we ensure fair behavior.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX.

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