Mets Give Their Fans a Thumbs-Down During Win

Baez then reiterated that he loves the fans, but added, “we can’t have our fans against us.”

On a couple of points, Baez was right: It is very hard to hit, as he knows. Of the 110 major leaguers with at least 600 plate appearances over the last two seasons, through Saturday, he ranked 109th in on-base percentage, at .269. And the players are not, in fact, machines.

But neither are the fans. They boo because they want to cheer, and because they expect better. Is it counterproductive, as Baez suggested? Sure. Do the fans (or the news media, for that matter) truly understand how hard it is to succeed in the majors? Surely not.

But major leaguers, especially in demanding markets like New York, have to take it as an implicit part of the deal. Major league tickets are expensive, and major league salaries are generous. When a team holds first place for almost three months and suddenly finds itself 63-67, as the Mets are, it should expect occasional boos.

“Mets fans, New York fans, this market, this city knows baseball probably more than any other city,” Manager Luis Rojas said. “They have the right to react however they want. And we’ve got to understand where they’re coming from.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/sports/baseball/mets-fans-thumbs-down.html