The Yankees are turning a bad Game 4 moment into a Game 5 positive.
The team donated the tickets previously held by fans banned from Yankees Stadium for aggressively interfering with Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts to Calvin Young, 15, a pediatric cancer patient and his family for Wednesday night’s World Series game.
The goodwill gesture comes on the heels of the Game 4 incident, which occurred when infielder Gleyber Torres sent a fly ball down the left-field line.
As Betts went to make a play on the ball, fan Austin Capobianco pried open the Dodgers stars’ glove while his seatmate John Peter, grabbed the outfielder’s right wrist.
Torres was ruled out due to fan interference, while Capobianco and Peter were kicked out of the stadium.
“We always joke about the ball in our area,” Capobianco, a Yankees season ticket-holder told ESPN. “We’re not going to go out of our way to attack. If it’s in our area, we’re going to ‘D’ up. Someone defends, someone knocks the ball. We talk about it. We’re willing to do this.”
They’ll have to find a new place to watch Game 5 after the Yankees released a statement on Wednesday, saying the safety of all those inside the stadium “cannot be compromised” and the two fans were ejected for their “egregious and unacceptable physical contact” with Bett, leading to the ban for Game 5.
“The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the type of behavior displayed last night. These fans will not be permitted to attend tonight’s game in any capacity,” the organization said.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
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Prior to Game 5, Alex Verdugo commented on the situation and said it’s not exactly abnormal of New York fans.
“I saw it. Maybe one of the more extreme, trying to rip a ball out, but at the same time, that’s kinda New York,” he said. “I feel like that’s what you expect out here. You expect some unique things. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like it was too serious, I think Mookie shook it off too. You know, that’s just kind of the passion I guess New Yorkers have.”
