A Yankees fan tried to wrestle a ball away from Mookie Betts

Don’t do this, kids. Just don’t.

You’ve certainly heard plenty about the Mookie Betts vs. Yankees fan incident from Game 4 of the World Series.

I have opinions, so here goes! First, have another look at the play [VIDEO].

Betts, clearly, was not happy about this and you can see the play was immediately ruled fan interferernce and the batter, Gleyber Torres, was out. You can also see a couple of security folks immediately running onto the field.

This, obviously, is something that should never, ever happen during any baseball game, let alone a World Series game. The fans involved were escorted out:

Today, the fans involved — at least one of whom is a Yankees season-ticket holder — got plenty of media coverage, including this fawning tweet from Jesse Rogers (shame on you, Jesse, and I’m not embedding it because I don’t want to give them the PR that you did!)

Originally, the Yankees said these fans were welcome for Game 5 but I’m guessing someone in the Commissioner’s office made some phone calls, because:

Rogers also reports that the fan involved (nope, I’m still not naming him here, though he is in that linked tweet) will be arrested if he tries to get into Yankee Stadium tonight on another ticket.

These are the terms and conditions you agree to when you buy a Cubs ticket. I’m guessing they’re substantially the same for all 30 teams. They include the following:

This ticket is a license revocable with or without cause in the sole and absolute discretion of the Cubs. The Cubs reserve the right to terminate the license granted by this ticket and/or those of Minor(s) by tendering to Holder the purchase price printed on this ticket and/or those of Minor(s).

So that’s what the Yankees (and MLB, since the World Series is a MLB event, the Yankees are just hosting it) did here, and that, in my view, is the right thing to do. The play happened in the bottom of the first inning, and so the ejected fans missed most of Game 4 — without having their tickets refunded. That’s also the right thing to do. The terms and conditions also say this (bold and all caps in original):

ENTERING THE PLAYING FIELD, DISRUPTING AN EVENT AND/OR ATTEMPTING ANY PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH AN EVENT PARTICIPANT IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND/OR IMPRISONMENT. VIOLATORS MAY BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

So… prosecution could happen in this case, though I suspect it won’t.

I am reasonably certain that if something like this happened at Wrigley Field, the Cubs would revoke that person’s season tickets. I hope the Yankees do the same, because these people should not be held up as heroes, as they are by some. Beyond the interference, watch the video again — Betts could have been injured. The Yankees ticket terms and conditions contain this regarding season tickets:

Licensor may take any action that Licensor deems appropriate including issuing a warning, temporarily or permanently suspending an Account and/or denying access to an Account and/or Licensee’s My Yankees Account, if: (i) the License, any T&Cs and/or any Policy are breached and/or violated; (ii) Licensee breaches the Account’s terms of use; (iii) Licensor is unable to verify or authenticate Licensee’s information; (iv) Licensor believes that Licensee’s conduct may cause legal liability for Licensor; or (v) necessary for the safety and/or protection of patrons or to address fraud or misconduct. Licensor may review Account activity for fraud which may result in automatic cancellation of Account activity and temporary or permanent suspension of the Account.

You can find all the terms and conditions at that link; among the possible violations noted:

… interferes with any ball in the field of play or any Sports Participant attempting to make a play on any batted, pitched or thrown baseball

So, folks — don’t do this. Just don’t. I don’t know how far the nets at Yankee Stadium extend into the outfield, but I am guessing that the Yankees will look into extending them this offseason.

Let’s hope there are no further shenanigans from fans as the World Series continues tonight. The BCB game thread will post at 6 p.m. CT.