CHICAGO -- The Diamondbacks’ 4-1 win over the White Sox at Rate Field on Tuesday night was marred by an incident where a fan crossed the line with second baseman Ketel Marte.
Marte was in the middle of his seventh-inning at-bat when a fan yelled something derogatory about his mother, who passed away in a car accident in 2017. While walking back to Arizona's dugout after popping out to end the inning, Marte could be seen tearing up as he stared at the fan in question. That emotion carried over into the bottom half of the inning, prompting manager Torey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo to console Marte on the field during a pitching change.
“It was a terrible moment,” an emotional Lovullo said after the game. “Fans are nasty, and fans go too far. I love my players, and I’m going to protect them.
“I’ve known Ketel for nine years, and he’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships, as well. Some really, really tough moments in his life, and I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him.”
Lovullo said he looked right at Marte when he heard what the fan said, noting that Marte was having trouble containing his emotions as he walked through the dugout while preparing to take the field between innings. Both Lovullo and bench coach Jeff Banister flagged down stadium security, who had the fan ejected from the game.
“We can take a lot. We sign up and we are in uniform to take a lot,” Lovullo said. “We’re prepared for that. But when you cross a line -- and it’s a very firm, bold line -- we become human beings.
“I hate it. I hated what happened today, but I’m going to protect these guys and back them up like I’m their father.”
Added Perdomo: “Everybody knows Ketel has fun, plays the game hard, but I feel bad for him. I feel mad about it. I don’t know who it was, but they’ve definitely got to do something. We cannot continue to do that [expletive] here in MLB. This is baseball, this is for the fans. They came here, they support us, but when they cross the line, we are not with that [expletive].”
Marte, who homered in the first during his fifth straight start with at least two hits, stayed in through the remainder of the game despite how overcome the moment left him. Still, even well after the contest concluded, it was clear the incident left the Diamondbacks shaken.
But their support for their hurting teammate remained as strong as ever.
“I love you, and I’m with you,” Lovullo said when asked what he told Marte, whom he’s known since the star infielder joined the team in 2017. "We’re all together. You’re not alone.”