After horrific Ketel Marte incident, Francisco Lindor's wife Katia voices opposition against dehumanization of high salary earning athletes

Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was in tears after receiving abuse from a fan during a game against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

The fan made comments about Marte's late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a car accident in 2017. While the fan was immediately removed from the stans and banned from all MLB ballparks, the incident has drawn attention to the harsh reality of criticism from baseball fans.

New York Mets star Francisco Lindor's wife, Katia, reacted to the incident. She shared an Instagram post in support of Ketel Marte on Friday, highlighting how players are treated like "commodities" rather than human beings.

"I'm usually quick to speak up for the marginalized, not so much for the privileged for obvious reasons-but when it comes to our shared humanity, there are lines that should never be crossed," Katia captioned her post.

Katia also revealed receiving death threats for Francisco Lindor's performance on the field.

"I've received death threats over my husband's on-field performance, and these aren't isolated cases. This is a reality shared by many across sports and entertainment. Frustration is valid. Dehumanization is not. Let's be better."

Katia Lindor called for mutual respect, treating high-salary-earning athletes as human beings and giving them "grace, respect and understanding," rather than viewing them as "entertainment machines."

Ketel Marte opened up about controversial incident in Chicago

Ketel Marte revealed the comments made by the anonymous fan during the game against the White Sox in Chicago on Tuesday. Marte said in an interview with Yancen Pujols on Friday :

"A fan was up on the dugout shouting things about my mother. He was like, ‘Last night I sent a message to your mother.’"

Like Katia Lindor mentioned, Marte admitted to being on the receiving end of criticism from fans, but this comment had crossed the line.

"We have to do something about the fans; they’re going too far," he said. 'They always shout things about me, but not about my mother. Everyone knows that my mother died in an accident. And nothing."

Following the incident, Ketel Marte received a standing ovation from fans on Wednesday as a show of solidarity.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash