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Mets fans booed their team during its freefall, and now the players are returning the favor

jack baer
Staff writer
·5 min read
189

We have a new entry in the pantheon of "Only the New York Mets" stories.

For the last month or so, the Mets have been in what could be politely referred to as a free fall. After entering the All-Star break in first place in the NL East, the team has lost 21 of its last 30 games and fallen to third place and 7.5 games back in the standings.

As you can imagine, Mets fans made their displeasure known during this stretch, frequently and vocally. Which the players apparently did not appreciate.

The players waited until a now-rare win to make their real feelings known. During a 9-4 dispatching of the Washington Nationals, multiple players could be seen celebrating big hits by throwing a thumbs down sign, something they have apparently been doing for at least a week.

Among the players to do it was shortstop Javier Baez after a home run:

Javier Baez flashed a thumbs down after a home run against the Nationals. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Javier Baez flashed a thumbs down after a home run against the Nationals. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

Per Newsday's Tim Healey, Baez was joined by Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar in doing the thumbs down. Infielder Jonathan Villar, bless his heart, gave a thumbs up.

Baez was asked about the celebration after the game, and his explanation was spectacularly petty:

Once again, we must say "Only the Mets."

There have been teams who got booed during losing streaks before, but it really feels like only the Mets could turn against the fans in such a unified way. Baez, who has played in all of 17 games for the Mets, really did make it sound like the team is legitimately bothered by the fans booing them:

So basically, the Mets, their fans and the concept of winning are in some kind of triangle of loathing right now. And the team waited until its highest-scoring win since July 9 to confirm this.

The punchline to all this is that the Mets' win on Sunday was against the Nationals, a team that traded away nearly half its roster at the trade deadline and is now in a situation where it is incentivized to lose. Here are the earned run averages of the four pitchers Washington trotted out against New York: 5.08, 4.30, 4.50 and 5.82.

Mets president blasts players giving fans thumbs down

The Mets' players apparently didn't run their new celebration past Mets management, as manager Luis Rojas told reporters that he was unaware of why his team had been doing the thumbs down for a week.

Mets president Sandy Alderson strongly repudiated the players' gesture and said he would be meeting with them directly in a statement:

In a post-game press conference today, Javy Baez stated that his "thumbs down" gesture during the game was a message to fans who recently have booed him and other players for poor performance. These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with a similar intent, are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Mets fans are understandably frustrated over the team's recent performance. The players and the organization are equally frustrated, but fans at Citi Field have every right to express their own disappointment. Booing is every fan's right.

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.

Mets fans are loyal, passionate, knowledgeable and more than willing to express themselves. We love them for every one of these qualities.

Mets owner Steve Cohen was a little more terse, lamenting the team's unique penchant for controversy.

Meanwhile, Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker summed up the situation in his own way:

For his part, Pillar tweeted that the gestures were just the team "having fun" and insisted people don't read too much into it, to which teammate Marcus Stroman responded by calling the whole situation a media-generated controversy.