Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was in tears during Tuesday's (June 24) road win against the Chicago White Sox after a fan yelled something about his late mother during an at-bat.
The fan was ejected from Rate Field at the request of Diamondbacks manager Torrey Lovullo and bench coach Jeff Banister, a team spokesman confirmed to the Arizona Republic. Marte, 31, whose mother, Elpidia Valdez died in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic in 2017, declined to comment on the incident through a team official.
Lovullo confirmed that he heard the fan's comment during Marte's at-bat in the top of the seventh inning.
"[Marte] put his head down, and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure," said Lovullo, who said he reacted "as a dad would" and consoled Marte during the pitching change in the bottom of the seventh, via the Arizona Republic.
"I could see he was sobbing. It hurt," he added. "[I told him], 'I love you and I'm with you and we're all together and you're not alone. No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you heard, that guy is an idiot. It shouldn't have an impact on you.'"
The Diamondbacks' live broadcast initially speculated that it was due to teammate Ildemaro Vargas injuring his foot in the fourth inning. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, a fellow Dominican native, said he felt "mad" when asked about the incident and called on Major League Baseball to take action.
“That can’t happen. Everybody knows how Ketel is. He’s fun. He plays the game hard. I feel bad for him. I feel mad about it. I hope MLB can do something with that guy. I don’t know who it was, but they’ve got to do something. We can’t continue to do that (expletive) here in MLB," Perdomo said, adding that the fan "should be banned, for sure," via the Arizona Republic.