HOUSTON — An Astros fan was relocated to different seats after ripping a baseball out of Mike Trout’s glove on a foul ball that went into the first row of the right-field seats.
The play was eerily reminiscent of the infamous foul ball incident during Game 4 of the 2024 World Series, when a New York Yankees fan took a ball from the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts.
“I just didn’t know what was going on,” the Astros fan, Jared Whalen, told The Athletic from the Daikin Park concourse while flanked by security. “I didn’t realize it was a play. It was coming at my son’s face. I just reached out.”
A fan straight up ripped the ball out of Mike Trout’s glove and umpires ruled it a foul ball. pic.twitter.com/DHL4OoNeSB
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 12, 2025
The fan was almost immediately escorted from his seat, leaving his young son with team security. Soon after, Astros fans in the section booed wildly as the son was escorted by security out of the section to be reunited with his father.
The play came in the second inning Saturday, when Yainer Diaz skied a foul popup down the right-field line. Trout reached over the padding with the ball seemingly secured in his glove. However, Whalen reached in and poached it.
Trout immediately reacted, motioning for an interference call. However, umpires ruled that because the contact was initiated out of play, no interference had occurred. Manager Ron Washington came out to discuss the play with the umpires as well.
Whalen seemed bewildered in the immediate aftermath, completely unaware of the implications of what he’d done.
“I was more looking at the ball coming for my son’s face,” Whalen said. “I made sure I wasn’t in the field of play. I apologized, and (Trout) nodded his head and we’re good, I think.”
Whalen kept the ball. He said he knew of the play involving Austin Capobianco, the Yankees fan at the center of the viral World Series moment. Capobianco was banned from all 30 major-league parks.
“I wasn’t in the World Series,” said crew chief umpire Alan Porter, when asked by a pool reporter why the play was different from the one in last year’s World Series, which was called for interference. “I don’t even remember seeing the play.”
The Angels could have challenged the play, but chose not to, ultimately believing it would not get overturned.
Security on the scene in Houston said the decision whether to eject the fan ultimately rested with the Astros and Major League Baseball. Whalen noted that after the play, his phone was buzzing with numerous friends and family recognizing him.
Whalen said he didn’t feel like this play was the same as that Yankees-Dodgers moment. He said he’d like to think of himself more in the vein of Jeffrey Maier, the then-12-year-old Yankees fan whose (uncalled) interference gave New York a walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series.
Trout met with Whalen and his son after the Angels’ 4-1 win over the Astros, and the outfielder signed the foul ball.
Mike Trout meets with the fan and his son. pic.twitter.com/LVl9t3qMl1
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 13, 2025
Trout said he wanted to meet them, knowing how apologetic the fan was and that he had a young son.
“I got kids myself. The way he reacted, he obviously didn’t do it on purpose,” Trout said. “Well, I don’t know if he didn’t do it on purpose. But just the way he reacted, and his kid, and they got moved. They probably spent hard (earned) money on those tickets.”
(Photo: Leslie Plaza Johnson / Icon Sportswire via Associated Press)
