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A couple of Yankees fans got a little too involved in the action during game 4 of the 2024 World Series between New York and the LA Dodgers. The over-zealous home supporters managed to wrench the ball out of the glove of Dodgers’ right fielder Mookie Betts, preventing him from making a clean catch and earning themselves ejection from the ground.
Throughout history, in many major sports leagues, fans have made a difference to determine the outcome of a game or season. From iconic chants to incredible displays of support to calculated sabotage, we highlight the most memorable fan moments in sports history.
This one is as straightforward as it sounds. In one of the most highly anticipated WWE events, the RAW ladder match, Eddie Guerrero knocked opponent Rob Van Dam down to the canvas before climbing the ladder to victory. Within a quick time frame, a random fan climbs through the ropes to get into the ring and pushes the ladder over while Eddie is on it, hoping to sabotage the match (or get some laughs).
Guerro saw this coming and hopped off the ladder immediately before swinging at the fan, who was in the process of being dragged off by the referee. This fan may not have supported Eddie, but wrestling fans won’t forget this one in a hurry, especially considering Rob Van Dam had no idea what was going on in the process.
Tie Domi managed to earn himself a 2-minute penalty against the Philadelphia Flyers. After several seconds of just sitting and minding his business, fans from behind the box tried to rattle the Leafs’ player by heckling insults at him and throwing trash and other objects down in the box.
Domi, in response, started squirting his water bottle onto the fans behind him before one of the opposing fans got too close to the low glass and started throwing stray punches. The glass panel fell over, and the fan fell into the box, giving Tie Domi free rein to throw punches at him. While this was quickly stopped by referees and other personnel, it’s one of the those moments when hockey fans crossed the line.
Heading away from the trolling fan moments, we have one of the most memorable and heartfelt chants in the history of any sport. The chant “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is heard before the start of every single Liverpool FC game. While the origins of this chant can’t necessarily be pinpointed, the legend states there was a UEFA Champions League Final match in 2005 against AC Milan where Liverpool was losing 3-0.
Refusing to watch their team lose, the Liverpool fans began chanting You’ll Never Walk Alone, effectively galvanizing the entire team, leading them to score 3 goals, head to overtime and win in penalties. This song has been a hit at Anfield since the 1960s and continues to be bellowed out by fans of the Reds to this day.
A legendary rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons back in November of 2004 ended in a full-on fan vs. fan player vs. player brawl, causing this event to be dubbed as the “Malice at the Palace”. With the Pacers leading 97-82 with under a minute left in the game, Pistons center Ben Wallace attempted a layup and was fouled by Pacers Ron Artest. Wallace then shoved Artest out of anger before a fight instantaneously broke out on the court between both teams.
After this scuffle, a fan threw a drink down on the court and hit Artest, causing him to immediately charge the crowd, but he grabbed the wrong fan. After a few more players headed up to the crowd and many more drinks were thrown, the incident snowballed into an all-out brawl that spread throughout the stand, making it one of the most shocking entries on our list and spawning a Netflix documentary.
Back to baseball again, and one of the most famous fan-involvement moments in the history of this, or any other sport. Chicago residents won’t need reminding of the name ‘Steve Bartman’, but in case you need a memory jog here’s the summary:
It’s Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS Championship in Chicago, with the Cubs leading 3-0 in the 8th inning versus the Marlins, only one game away from clinching the series. Marlins batter Luis Castillo hits the ball into foul territory in left field, but just as Cubbie outfielder Moises Alou is about to catch the ball it is deflected by over-eager fan Steve Bartman.
Cue a Cubbie collapse, as the Marlins go on to win not just the game but the whole series. Bartman became something of a pariah in Chicago, despite the fact that he had been unaware of Alou’s approach as he tried to catch that foul ball. Steve turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars from advertisers, as he refused to make coin from his notoriety, which is undoubtedly to his credit.
When the Cubs finally laid their ghosts to rest and won the World Series in 2016 they did the decent thing and awarded a special World Series Ring to Mr Bartman in recognition of what he had endured over the years, providing a happy ending both to this story and to our article!
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.