Ketel Marte reveals the sick words White Sox fan said about his dead mother during heartbreaking moment

An upsetting moment during a game in Chicago left Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte in tears. Fans and teammates were stunned when a fan sitting close to the field said something deeply personal to Marte during a pitching break.

It wasn’t clear at first what happened, but soon the truth came out—and it’s now one of the most talked-about incidents in Major League Baseball this week.

Ketel Marte breaks down after hearing cruel words from White Sox fan

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, during the top of the seventh inning of a game between the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte was at the plate when a man seated above the visiting dugout shouted a disturbing comment.

The fan yelled, “I sent your mom a text last night.” Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, passed away in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in 2017. Ketel Marte later said in an interview on “Danny Beisbol” that the comment deeply hurt him. He said, “When everything happened with my mom, I was here in Chicago. I was in this city.”After hearing the words, Marte was visibly shaken. The fan was quickly removed from the stadium and later banned from all MLB parks indefinitely by the league.

The moment brought back hard memories for Marte, who explained that while he’s heard trash talk before, no one had ever mentioned his late mother. He added, “Fan behavior is getting out of hand.”

Support pours in for Ketel Marte from team and league

As Marte wiped away tears, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo ran over to him. Lovullo shouted at the fan using strong words, saying, “His mom died, you dumb f–k,” as seen in video footage shared online.Geraldo Perdomo, Marte’s teammate, said after the game, “That can’t happen… I feel mad about it.

Everybody knows how Ketel is. He plays hard and brings joy.”Also Read: What Fan Said About Ketel Marte’s Dead Mother That Made Him Cry In Front Of Diamondbacks TeammatesMLB later released a statement praising the Chicago White Sox for removing the fan quickly. Marte has been having a standout season for Arizona, with a .313 batting average and 1.012 OPS. Despite the emotional moment, he stayed in the game, showing strength and focus.