Mets crisis deepens after players give angry fans a taste of their own medicine
Flushing, New York - The New York Mets haven’t been having the greatest regular season right now and an open conflict between the players and fans isn't exactly helping.
The Mets are currently four games under .500. Despite at one point leading the NL East division, they now sit third behind the Braves and Phillies, respectively, and are also trying to survive through the season without their two best pitchers, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, both out on the IR.
The team lost several close games throughout the season, many of them losses after giving up late-inning leads.
This is all a recipe for the "boo-birds" to come out in spectacular fashion. But some players on the team haven’t been too thrilled about the cold reception and thought it’d be a great idea to show the Mets’ faithful how it feels to be in their shoes.
Javier Báez (28), who came over in a July trade from the Cubs, hit a home run in the 9-4 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. On his way back to the dugout, he proudly gave the fans in the stands a double thumbs-down.
"When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed," Báez said after the game. "So they’re going to get booed when we have success."
It's a pretty gutsy move to make when your baseball is going through a lackluster period.
However, his teammates Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar were sympathetic and joined in the mini-rebellion during the game.
For the sake of "damage control," Mets ownership sided with the fans
After the ill-advised gestures from his players, Mets President Sandy Alderson made sure his team’s fanbase knew exactly where he stood.
Needless to say, he wasn’t too keen on the "doing unto others" thing in this case, and his official statement he released via the team’s official blog was clearly reflective of that.
"The Mets will not tolerate any player gesture that is unprofessional in its meaning or is directed in a negative way toward our fans. I will be meeting with our players and staff to convey this message directly," he said.
The details of this internal meeting between Alderson and the players are still unknown, but it could have happened as early as Monday, since the Mets weren't playing.
The team will have to deal with the blowback from their home fans on Tuesday night, when they take on the Marlins.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire