FAN PASSION GONE ROGUE!

In the world of baseball, there’s a certain badge of honor reserved for the die-hard fan willing to cross the line—literally. Call it “fan interference,” call it chaos, but if it’s in the name of team loyalty, it’s just another page in baseball’s hilariously knuckleheaded playbook. Far from ruining the game, these over-the-top antics are folklore now, proof that some fans take “all-in” to the next level—especially if it means they get to play hero.

Start with Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan everyone loved to hate in 2003, who innocently reached for a foul ball and, in the process, became the fall guy for an entire season’s heartbreak. Was Bartman’s grab the nail in Chicago’s cursed coffin? Hardly. But it became the scapegoat for a team desperate to make it to the promised land. Bartman wasn’t misplaying ground balls or giving up runs.

21 years ago today. The Steve Bartman Game.

This app would have broke had twitter existed during this time. pic.twitter.com/0XYS23Dmtj

— The Braves are really Broken (@ATLthechamp2021) October 14, 2024

 No, he was simply a fan caught up in the thrill of October baseball, unknowingly slipping himself into Cubs lore. And guess what? The Cubs eventually forgave him, even giving him a championship ring in 2016. That’s right, folks: Bartman went from city scapegoat to ring-bearer without ever setting foot on a diamond.

And Bartman? Hardly the only fan with guts (or lack of common sense) to join the ranks. Zoom back to 1996, when 12-year-old Yankees superfan Jeffrey Maier decided to give Derek Jeter a little nudge in the right direction—literally—by snagging a ball from over the fence in Game 1 of the ALCS.

On this date in 1996, Jeffrey Maier happened. pic.twitter.com/yQ82NM4O3t

— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2019

 Orioles' fans still cry foul to this day, but Maier’s unintentional assist has made him an icon in Yankees lore. That gloved reach got him a New York hero’s welcome and a place in baseball’s Hall of Mischief.

Now, fast-forward to the present: Yankees fans Austin Capobianco and his partner-in-crime John Peter. These two masterminds, season ticket holders with a plan, waited for the perfect moment to help their team by prying Mookie Betts' glove open as he caught a foul ball. Yes, it was interference. Yes, they got ejected. But, to them, it was worth every second.

Now that’s resilience. pic.twitter.com/NON2SnFcb8

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) October 30, 2024

Capobianco’s motto? “If the ball’s in our area, we’re gonna ‘D’ up.” That’s dedication. And who could blame them? Sometimes you’ve got to risk it all for the love of the game—even if it means outsmarting a former MVP.

And let’s give a shoutout to Morganna “The Kissing Bandit” Roberts, a fan so infamous she practically wrote the rulebook on fan interference. In the late '60s, Morganna went beyond barriers (and the law) to give her favorite players a cheeky peck on the cheek, earning herself a record-breaking number of trespassing charges and fans along the way.

Cal Ripken Jr. gets swept off his feet by Morganna Roberts aka “The Kissing Bandit” pic.twitter.com/HMJDJ6VDrD

— Baseball Legends (@Leg_baseball) May 24, 2023

Morganna didn’t care about fines or field security; she was there to give the fans a show. She may have made security guards panic, but her fans? They loved every minute.

So the next time you see an ump signal fan interference, know it’s a salute to these champions of fandom. Are they knuckleheads? Oh, definitely. But their passion is priceless. Here’s to the Austins, the Jeffreys, the Steves, and Morganna—the legends who remind us that baseball’s greatest fans aren’t afraid to dive headfirst into the action (and trouble) for their team.

--Alvin Izzo
BYB Yankee History Contributor