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Arizona Diamondbacks star second baseman Ketel Marte was in tears during a pitching change in the seventh inning of the team’s 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Tuesday after an opposing fan made a comment about his late mother.
Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in 2017.
The incident resulted in the fan who made the comment being indefinitely banned from MLB ballparks, and an outpouring of support for Marte.
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Chicago White Sox’s Miguel Vargas, left, hugs Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte (4) before a baseball game Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
The 31-year-old All star revealed what the fan said about his mother during an interview on “Danny Beisbol” Thursday.
Marte claimed the fan yelled, “I sent your mom a text last night.” Marte made the claims in Spanish, but it was translated through subtitles on the podcast.
“What happened was in the seventh inning, I came to bat. I’m ready at the plate and I hear this fan shouting. He was on top of the dugout,” Marte said. “He yelled at me, saying stuff about my mom. He was like, ‘I sent your mom a text last night.’ When everything happened with my mom, I was here in Chicago. I was in this city.”
He added fan behavior is “getting out of hand.”
DIAMONDBACKS STAR KETEL MARTE CRIES ON FIELD AFTER FAN’S CRUEL COMMENTS ABOUT LATE MOTHER
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (left) and second baseman Ketel Marte (right) celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on June 24, 2025, in Chicago Illinois. (Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images)
MLB provided a statement addressing the incident.
“We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan,” MLB said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The Diamondbacks played the White Sox again Wednesday, and the White Sox displayed a message on their scoreboard in support of Marte in the first inning.
“Baseball is Family: The White Sox community supports Ketel Marte,” the message said.
Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo consoled the tearful Marte on the mound and put his arm around him during a pitching change in the seventh inning.
“It was a terrible moment. Fans are nasty. Fans go too far,” an emotional Lovullo told reporters after the game.
Lovullo added that he told Marte he was not alone, and that the heckler was “an idiot.”
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Fans show support for Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte (4) during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo called for the fan to banned after the game ended Tuesday.
“That can’t happen,” Perdomo said. “We can’t continue to do that … here in MLB.”
In 52 games, the two-time All-Star has a .316 batting average with 14 home runs and 31 RBIs.
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