Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks cried on the field Tuesday in response to a heckling fan, and the upset second baseman was comforted by manager Torey Lovullo. (Watch the video below.)
The fan was ejected after Lovullo alerted security, MLB.com reported.
The unusual scene played out as the Diamondbacks made a pitching change against the host Chicago White Sox. Marte could be seen weeping and wiping away his tears as Lovullo put his arm around him.
According to Lovullo and teammates, the fan made disrespectful comments about Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic.
Lovullo, who heard the spectator’s remarks but said he didn’t want to repeat them, sensed Marte would react.
“I looked right at him when I heard,” Lovullo told the Arizona Republic. “I looked right at him and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure.”
“I just reacted as a dad would when I went out to change pitchers,” Lovullo continued. “I could see he was sobbing. It hurt.”
In a postgame interview shared by MLB.com, Lovullo elaborated on his efforts to console his player.
“It was a terrible moment,” the manager said. “Fans are nasty. Fans go too far sometimes. I love my players and I’m gonna protect them. … [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.’”
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said Marte’s mother “was the world to him” and the fan’s behavior “can’t happen.”
“I feel mad about it,” Perdomo said, adding that the spectator should be banned.
If there was any consolation to the heartbreaking scene, Marte homered earlier in Arizona’s 4-1 victory.
