MEET THE FRETS
Thumber time in the Big Apple is heating up with former Cub Baez taking on Mets fans
Javy Baez has suddenly become the roast of New York.
The former Cubs fan favorite has caused a snit-storm in Queens by admitting that he was jabbing fans with a Roger Ebert-esque gesture to soothe irritated teammates.
Booed at home during a rough August, Baez said Mets players have been turning double thumbs down on the crowd in response. Baez did it after homering Sunday in a 9-4 victory over the Nationals at Citi Field.
“When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed,” Baez told reporters on a Zoom call that featured his son, Adrian, on his lap, wearing a Mets cap and jersey. “So they’re going to get booed when we have success.”
Baez, a two-time All-Star acquired from the Cubs last month, good friend Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar all were seen making the thumbs-down gesture during the win. According to footage from SNY’s broadcasts, it appears this thumbs-down move might go back to the team’s series Aug. 6-8 in Philadelphia.
Understandably, the gestures aren’t going over well in New York.
From New York Post columnist Ian O’Connor:
“[Baez] can be a maddening ballplayer and a magical one at the same time, and identifying his true value between those extremes can be as hard as explaining why the Mets are where they are today, 7½ games behind the Braves.
“But for all of his recent unforced errors — getting doubled off second by a mile, swinging at a changeup while it’s 20 feet from the plate — this one is the least forgivable. The Mets haven’t won a championship in 35 years, and they have put their fan base through one horror film after another. Things were supposed to change when Steve Cohen bought the team from Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and for three months, Cohen’s club was riding high in first place.
“That sudden surge of prosperity was a cruel practical joke for the fans who watched the Mets lose 19 of their first 25 August games.”
Later in that same column, O’Connor wrote: “Baez hasn’t won or done a damn thing in New York, and he already feels free to pull this low-rent stunt with his teammates, the kind that Yankees
pitcher Jack McDowell pulled when he flipped the crowd the middle finger in 1995?”
Hours after Baez’s remarks, Mets president Sandy Alderson swiftly condemned the behavior.
“These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with a similar intent, are totally unacceptable,” Alderson said in a statement.
“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.”
The Mets have fallen from the National League East lead to third place.
Baez is batting .210 with a .709 on-base plus slugging percentage since the Cubs traded him to Queens — though it should be noted that he has spent time on the injured list.
When asked about the thumbsdown celebration on Sunday, Baez was honest in describing how the gesture is almost a way of booing fans back.
“We’re not machines; we’re going to struggle,” Baez said. “We’re going to struggle seven times out of 10. It just feels bad when I strike out and get booed. It doesn’t really get to me, but I want to let them know that when we have success, we’re going to do the same thing to let them know how it feels. Because if we win together, then we got to lose together. The fans are really a big part of it. “In my case, they’ve got to be better. I play for the fans. I love the fans. But if they’re going to do that, they just put more pressure on the team. That’s not what we want.”
Mets manager Luis Rojas has endured chants of “Fire Rojas” at Citi Field and has chosen not to publicly react, but he did react to Baez’s comments.
“They have the right to react however they want,” Rojas said Sunday.
“With Mets fans, New York fans, this market, this city knows baseball probably more than any other city. They have the right to act however they want. We have to understand where they’re coming from. Our job is to be ready every day to give them the best baseball.”