The bad behavior in Flushing isn’t confined to the US Open.
Viral video of one man wrestling a baseball away from another in the stands of a Mets game at Citi Field went viral this week on the heels of several bizarre fan interactions at nearby Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The incident seemed to occur during the Amazin’s 19-9 win over the Marlins on Aug. 29, with the prize being an Xavier Edwards foul ball off Mets reliever Jose Castillo in the top of the seventh inning.
The action in the stands was not well received.
“Guys fighting over the ball, come on now,” Mets analyst and former player Keith Hernandez said on the SNY broadcast.
“Wait a second, give it to a kid,” play-by-play man Gary Cohen added. “[He] took it away from an old guy.”
It comes during a spate of poor fandom in Queens, especially at the US Open, which saw plenty of viral-for-the-wrong-reasons moments in the first week-plus of the tennis tournament.
Most infamously, Polish millionaire CEO Piotr Szczerek stole a hat his countryman Kamil Majchrzak tried to give to a child after defeating Karen Khachanov.
Another fan attempted to reach for the zipper on Jannik Sinner’s bag as the men’s No. 1 seed celebrated a win over Alexander Bublik on Monday night.
One man even approached Russian star Mirra Andreeva on the practice court in a creepy moment.
Players have been not been shy about expressing their displeasure with rowdy, unruly and intoxicated fans.
Novak Djokovic implored an umpire to quiet down fans during his quarterfinal win while Casper Ruud bemoaned the marijuana smell seemingly permeating the area in the opening days of the tournament.
Something is indeed in the air in Flushing — at least in the stands of the sports arenas.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
