Freddie Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, shared her opinion on Tuesday night’s whole Ketel Marte incident in Chicago from game day. The Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the Chicago White Sox in game 2 of the three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field when the incident occurred in the seventh inning of the contest.
From the videos at second base, it was evident that Marte was visibly shaken and in tears by some harsh comments made by a young 22-year-old White Sox fan towards his late mother. The D-backs skipper, Torey Lovullo, immediately ran up to Marte to console him and directed the stadium security to take action against the fan.
Freddie Freeman’s Wife, Chelsea, Sent a Strong Message After the Ketel Marte Incident
Freeman’s wife shared an Instagram story on Wednesday. The story highlighted the disappointing incident, which involved D-backs star Marte breaking down into tears due to inhumane and distasteful comments by a fan in Chicago. She captioned the image post, “At the end of the day, being kind always wins. Be kind.”
The original Instagram post shared by Athletelogos on Wednesday had the caption, “What happened in Chicago last night was awful to see. Really feel like we are at a tipping point with fans crossing the line with athletes. We gotta be better than this. These guys are people, too. Please treat them with the respect they deserve.”
View this post on Instagram.
The fan was immediately ejected from the stadium, and the White Sox organization reported that he was given an indefinite ban from entering any stadium, let alone their home stadium in Chicago. Major League Baseball applauded the White Sox’s swift reaction to the sad incident.
Diamondbacks skipper Lovullo addressed the media in a post-game interview and reflected on the Marte incident. He said, “It was a terrible moment. Fans are nasty, and fans go too far. I love my players, and I’m going to protect them.”
He added, “I’ve known Ketel for nine years, and he’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well. Some really, really tough moments in his life, and I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him.”
He concluded the interview, noting, “We can take a lot. We sign up, and we are in uniform to take a lot. We’re prepared for that. But when you cross a line — and it’s a very firm, bold line — we become human beings. I hate it. I hated what happened today, but I’m going to protect these guys and back them up like I’m their father.”
Despite the saddening incident, Marte took the field for the series finale on Wednesday. The D-backs, 41-39 for the season, won the series against the White Sox and will kick off a ten-game homestand at Chase Field on Friday.