A Boston Red Sox fan who was ejected during Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers shortly after taking a home run ball from the woman next to him and throwing it back onto the field was allegedly making racist comments throughout the game.
Fans in section 42 of the stadium, where the unruly fan was sitting for Game 2 of the ALCS, confirmed to Yahoo Sports that the ejected fan directed multiple slurs toward 25-year-old Angelo Sikoutris, a Brooklyn native and Detroit Tigers fan.
“He was talking all game,” Sikoutris told Yahoo Sports. The Detroit fan said he attended the game with his father, who was wearing a Prince Fielder jersey. At one point the ejected fan allegedly called him “Prince Fielder’s crackhead brother,” and allegedly told another African-American Tigers fan to “Go back to the ghetto.”
Dan Cook, another fan near the alleged confrontation, confirmed Sikoutris’ account.
As security lead the fan out of the section, Sikoutris reports he said, “Bye, bye.”
The man allegedly responded, “Bye Trayvon,” referring to Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African-American who was shot and killed in Florida.
Martin’s death generated national debates about Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law and racism in today’s society.
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin, was charged with second degree murder. A Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty.
The Red Sox came back to win Game 2 6-5 over the Tigers.
Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.