A New York judge issued a restraining order Monday against a 46-year-old woman who allegedly has been harassing Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner.
The woman, Gina Devasahayam, has until Thursday to offer evidence to try to have the order overturned.
Devasahayam has said she and Gardner are destined to be together. Gardner, 36, said in court papers he never has met Devasahayam.
Gardner’s attorney asked a judge in Bronx, N.Y., on Feb. 13 to issue an order of protection. Security forces at the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa, Fla., are on the lookout for her and have been told to deny her entry, NJ.com reported last week.
The woman reportedly tried to get into the visitors clubhouse at Camden Yards last August when the Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles, and she was removed from Yankee Stadium last postseason. She then sued Gardner, the Yankees and Major League Baseball, contending it was her right to be there.
“I request the Court to grant me access to the Stadium in accordance with MLB fan policy and also in accordance with ‘Significant other’ of MLB player Brett Gardner,” she wrote in the lawsuit, via NJ.com. “I am a Yankees fan and also the future wife of Brett Gardner.”
Gardner has been married to his wife, Jessica, since 2007. They have two children.
The New York Post reported Bronx Supreme Court Justice Eddie McShan granted Gardner’s request Monday, saying the woman “could be a danger to Gardner and his family.”
NJ.com reported Devasahayam sent an email to Joe Girardi, then the Yankees’ manager, in 2015 to let him know she was “fascinated” by Gardner and followed it up with a “love letter” to the veteran outfielder.
She contends in her lawsuit that Gardner has sent her signals while on the field, at least one of which she interpreted as a sexual message. She said she started attending Yankees games “because I see that Brett desires this.”
