New York media still keeps going to bat for Yankees fan who grabbed Mookie Betts

A few months ago, a New York Yankees fan by the name of Austin Capobianco made national headlines when he grabbed the glove and wrist of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts while trying to interfere with a fly ball in Game 4 of the 2024 World Series. While some corners of the media (and some corners of Yankees fandom) tried their hardest to make Capobianco into a folk hero, most saw him for what he was, a fan who had gone way too far in the name of helping his team — including Major League Baseball, which slapped him with a lifetime ban.

And that, for a while at least, appeared to be that. Capobianco got put in his place, the Dodgers got the ultimate revenge by winning the series in five games (and celebrating in the Bronx) and everyone moved on to bigger and better things ... or so we thought. For whatever reason, The Athletic felt the need to reopen this particular can of worms yet again, reaching out to Capobianco for an interview about what the last few months have been like and what he's up to now. The result is about exactly what you'd expect.

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Austin Capobianco's account of Mookie Betts World Series controversy isn't the whole truth

The bulk of the story is about what Capobianco had to deal with in the aftermath of becoming a household name, and in fairness, it does seem pretty extreme — up to and including a box of feces shipped to his parents' doorstep. Which, to be clear, is over the line, no matter how outrageous Capobianco's actions were. Two wrongs don't make a right, and as long as Capobianco has been given an appropriate punishment by MLB, we'd all be better off moving on.

But that's sort of the problem here: Capobianco is making that awfully, awfully hard. The Athletic donates a ton of space to his version of the story, both his encounter with Betts and its aftermath, and while he does offer an apology — and says that he wishes the whole thing "never happened" — it's hard to escape the feeling that he's only sorry because he's been made to deal with the consequences of his actions.

“I want nothing to do with that memory,” Capobianco said, which certainly doesn't square with the fact that he spent the hours after the incident taking interviews, signing autographs and generally soaking up the fame that comes with being the most famous Yankees fan this side of Jay Z.

I fully believe that Capobianco and his friends didn't arrive at Yankee Stadium looking to put their hands on a player, and that when they saw the fly ball coming their way, their only intention was to try and prevent the Dodgers from recording an out. But what they actually did went well, well beyond that, in ways that it doesn't seem like they truly understand. (Capobianco's best friend, John Hansen, defending grabbing and twisting Betts' wrist by saying “I was just trying to prevent something from escalating in literally half a second," which beggars belief.)

If what Capobianco really wanted was to fade away, the last thing he'd do is keep his name in the news after the sports world had long since moved on. What he seems to want instead is absolution, to essentially have his cake and eat it too, and media should stop granting him his wish.