After apologies, Mets earn cheers
NEW YORK — Javier Baez apologized for running his mouth, then sprinted right back into the good graces of New York Mets fans.
Baez bolted from first to home for the winning run in the ninth inning of a 6-5 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, hours after he and Francisco Lindor apologized for their roles in a thumbs-down gesture that was in part a dig at New York fans who have booed the underperforming ballclub.
Baez and Lindor took turns saying they were sorry within an hour of the first pitch. Their regrets followed a stern statement from team President Sandy Alderson on Sunday night disavowing the gesture, as well as a team meeting Tuesday in which players said they would stop making it.
“I didn’t mean to offend anybody,” Baez said.
Lindor added, “It doesn’t look good on our part.”
The longtime friends spoke to reporters in front of the Mets’ dugout. Lindor was booed by a few fans when he emerged, and two young boys held up thumbs-down signals behind him while he spoke. After Baez concluded his apology, one fan shouted to him, “Javy, we just want to win, bro!”
Lindor drew some boos during his first at-bat of the game, which was the resumption of an April matchup suspended by rain in the first inning.
But Baez got a much ruder welcome when he entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. Many in the sparse crowd stood and turned down their thumbs while he batted, jeering him until he was hit by a 2-2 pitch on the shin and walked to first.
Baez batted again in the ninth, and the tone shifted. Fans chanted “Javy Baez!” as he stood in with two on, two out and New York trailing 5-3. Baez beat out an infield single, earning an ovation after trimming the lead to 5-4.
Baez then dashed home on Michael Conforto’s single to left field. He was mobbed at home plate by a group of teammates, including Lindor. They shared a long hug moments later.
The 28-year-old Baez was acquired from the Chicago Cubs on July 30 and had hit .210 with 4 homers and a .709 OPS in 17 games before Tuesday. Mets fans booed the two-time All-Star and others throughout August, when the team has gone 8-19 — Tuesday’s early result counts toward April — to fall out of playoff position after leading the NL East for nearly three months.
Players began making the thumbsdown gesture toward their dugout after base hits and other positive plays while at Dodger Stadium from Aug. 20-22.
“When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed,” Baez explained Sunday. “So they’re going to get booed when we have success.”
Lindor and Manager Luis Rojas said Tuesday they believe Baez — whose first language is Spanish but doesn’t use an interpreter when speaking to media — misspoke when he said Mets players were booing the fans.
“I didn’t say the fans are bad, I love the fans, but like, I just felt like we were alone,” Baez said Tuesday. “The fans obviously want to win, and they pay our salary like everybody says, but like, we want to win, too, and the frustration got to us. And, you know, I didn’t mean to offend anybody, and if I offend anybody, we apologize.”
Lindor also said the gesture was not explicitly about fans.
“Thumbs down for me means adversity, the adversity we have gone through in this whole time,” Lindor said. “Like the negative things, we overcome it, so it’s like, ‘We did it! We went over it!’
“However, it was wrong, and I apologize to whoever I offended. It was not my intent to offend people.”
First-year Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeted that he was “glad to hear our players apologizing to the fans” and asked supporters to “get behind our players today.”