In an attempt to squash a growing rift between Mets players and fans of the team, fielders Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor on Tuesday apologized for their recent actions. thumbs down gesturesThis caused outrage among fans and within the organization.
The gesture, which Baez accepted on Sunday, was made in retaliation for fans who have booed the team in recent weeks.
After Baez uncovered the internal structure of the signal, which is usually made on the baseways leading to the team’s bunker after the player takes a major blow, team president Sandy Alderson said: condemned the players in a statementHe called it “absolutely unacceptable”.
The Mets were off on Monday, but Lindor signed a contract on Tuesday. 10 years, $341 million extension Baez spoke to reporters on the field before a double-headed game against the Miami Marlins and released his apologies and statements.
“Thumbs up for me, the adversity we’ve been through, the negative things, it means we’ve gotten over it,” Lindor said. “We did it, we passed. However, it was wrong and I apologize to whoever I offended. It wasn’t my intention to offend people. You can’t go against the fans.”
“It doesn’t look good from our side,” Lindor added.
Lindor hit a mix of booing and cheering from fans in the first hit of Tuesday’s makeshift double-headed game – the first game was the resumption of a game against the Marlins that started on April 11, and the second was a game the team regularly scheduled. Match against Miami. Lindor had pretty much the same reaction after he let go of the sacrificial meat.
Steven Cohen, owner of the Mets, applauded Lindor and Baez for apologizing and asked fans to stand behind them for Tuesday’s games.
“I’m glad to hear that our players have apologized to the fans,” he wrote.
Coach Luis Rojas said the team held a meeting before the game to discuss the matter.
Baez, a close friend of Lindor, was bought for outfield candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong on July 30, and the team lost 11 of the next 15 games. He will be a free agent after the season. As losing has continued in recent weeks, fans have booed louder, and some players have developed the thumbs-down gesture as a way of saying that if fans can boo players when they play poorly, players can boo, according to Baez. fans when the team is successful.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” Baez said. “It’s something I’ve done to the other team in the past.”
Baez said he may have said something wrong about booing fans and that he really meant it against his teammates.
“I didn’t say the fans were bad,” he said. “For example, I love the fans. I just felt like we were alone. Obviously, the fans want to win and they pay our wages, as everyone says. But we want to win, and disappointment has come upon us. I didn’t want to offend anyone. We apologize.”
It is not yet clear whether the apologies will satisfy fans. There were very few of them at Citi Field when the first game started, and Baez wasn’t in the starting lineup. More people were expected for the regularly scheduled game later on Tuesday.