Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte broke down in tears mid-game after a fan made derogatory comments about his late mother.
Marte, a second baseman, became visibly emotional after a fan at the Chicago White Sox’s Rate Field yelled something about his mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017, according to the Arizona Republic.
Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo said the comments were made during Marte’s at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, and that he heard what the fan said, but would not repeat it.
“I looked right at him when I heard,” Lovullo said. “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.”
In the moments after the incident, Marte could be seen wiping away tears from his eyes while Lovullo put his arm around him to comfort him.
The incident also left some of Marte’s teammates shaken, including shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who called for the fan to be banned in a heated rant.
““That can’t happen,” Perdomo said. “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 s*** here in MLB.”
Perdomo added: “He should be banned, for sure.”
The fan was ejected from the stadium shortly after the outburst.
Lovullo, the team’s manager, said he “just reacted as a dad would” when he stopped to hug him as he called for the pitchers to change.
“I could see he was sobbing. It hurt,” he said. “(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.”
Marte declined to comment on the incident to the Republic. The Diamondbacks won the game 4-1, in part thanks to a home run scored by Marte.
The Independent has reached out to the Diamondbacks and White Sox for comment.
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