Buddy had a bad day at the ballpark.
In the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s Giants-Dodgers matchup in Chavez Ravine, Mookie Betts lifted a ball deep to center field. Giants center fielder Mike Yastrzemski leaped at the wall and tried to rob it, but his glove ended up in the midsection of a fan, who caught the ball before he had a chance to make a play. Only thing? The fan was wearing a Giants jersey.
After a couple of seconds of disbelief, the fan realized what he did and was down bad. He put his head in his hands and realized his faux pas, as Betts trotted around the bases to make it a two-run lead for the Dodgers. As the Giants fan was still in shock, one of his buddies put a Dodgers hat on his head and he waved it off. Gotta love baseball.
The Giants went on to lose 9-1, so Betts’ homer ended up just being a sliver of the Dodgers’ offensive production on the evening. The fan probably still feels guilty, but he shouldn’t feel like Steve Bartman, the infamous Cubs fan who helped the Miami Marlins win Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS when he interfered with Cubs outfielder Moises Alou on a fly ball down the left-field line.
This was just a game in May and his team lost by eight runs. Still, it’s the Dodgers, so this one has to sting for the Giants fan. He’s probably more upset that his team was swept in a two-game set against his rival, as the Dodgers also won 3-1 on Tuesday.
For now, the Dodgers (16-7) have the National League’s best win percentage, while the Giants (14-10) have slipped into a tie with the Rockies (14-10) for third place behind the Padres (16-9).
