Fan ejected from Diamondbacks-White Sox game for yelling about Ketel Marte’s late mother

Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte was visibly upset on the field late in Tuesday’s game at the Chicago White Sox. Manager Torey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo consoled him at the mound during a pitching change in the seventh inning with tears in Marte’s eyes.

Lovullo and Perdomo told reporters postgame that a fan at Rate Field yelled something about Marte’s late mother during his at-bat in the top half of the inning.

Ketel Marte visibly upset during the Dbacks pitching change. In tears. Hoping everything is ok with Ketel pic.twitter.com/nRC97yjMdB

— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) June 25, 2025

The fan was ejected from the game for the verbal abuse.

Marte’s mother, Elpidia Valdez, died in a car accident in 2017, early in Marte’s tenure with the Diamondbacks. Marte left the team for a period to go back home to the Dominican Republic. He was only 23 years old at the time.

“It was a terrible moment,” Lovullo said. “Fans are nasty and fans go too far sometimes.”

Here’s the initial explanation from ⁦@Dbacks⁩ Manager Torey Lovullo re the incident in Chicago where a ⁦@whitesox⁩ fan verbally abused Ketel Marte. pic.twitter.com/UZnwssmxfz

— Todd Walsh (@ToddWalsh) June 25, 2025

The Diamondbacks defeated the White Sox, 4-1. Marte hit a home run in the first inning.

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