The New York Mets’ poor second half has angered lots of their fans, but when the boo birds came in flying, several players took exception.
Talk about a turn for the worse. The New York Mets drop-off is quite extraordinary. After leading the NL East for several months, they were poised for their first division title since 2015. That year, the Mets fell just short of the World Series, losing in 5 games. However, this year, their demise has taken place much sooner. Coming into the All-Star break, the Metropolitans had a 47-40 record. Since then, they have had 16 wins and 27 losses!
While they were only slightly above .500 beforehand, they still held a comfortable division lead. However, in August alone, the Mets have dropped 12 1/2 games in the standings. They now sit a whopping seven games back in the division they just controlled. Moreover, with injuries continuing to pile up, few could’ve seen things getting worse. But they have.
New York Mets’ Fans are Not Happy
Entering the 2021 MLB season, New Yorkers held high hopes for their new-look Mets. With Steve Cohen at the helm, fans expected change was coming. In the offseason, they acquired superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor. Furthermore, when the trade deadline approached, Cohen was desperately seeking a splash move. And that’s precisely what he did. With the Cubs tearing down their team, the Mets acquired a close friend of Lindor in Javier Báez.
However, this move did little to help the squad’s overwhelming issue… hitting. Báez is tremendously overhyped at the dish and would not be enough to carry this struggling Mets squad into the playoffs. After such a promising first half, Mets fans were rightfully frustrated with the team and management. So, as a fan, the appropriate response to such a disappointment is to boo. Booing is something Mets fans are pretty good at, as they have a lot of experience.
Although the New York Mets were struggling, their players did not appreciate the fans’ expression of gratitude. So much so, the other night, in a rare Mets’ victory, the players had a rebuttal for their angered followers.
Thumbs-Down
Following a towering homer by the newest Met, Báez put two thumbs down to the crowd. It was not just him, though, as Lindor and Kevin Pillar copied the “celebration” too. After the game, Báez approached the media with his take on the gesture.
Javier Baez on the thumbs down sign Mets players have been flashing to the crowd after big hits: "To let [the fans] know when we don't get success we're going to get booed, so they are going to get booed when we have success."
His rant continued about the poor play of the fans rather than the team. Soon thereafter, an uproar of social media criticism came. Mets fans were let down yet again. However, Kevin Pillar quickly jumped in to halt fans from overreacting.
Love y’all too! Felt nothing but love in NYC. No I’m not booing the fans. We are having fun. No different than earlier this year when we were churving 👌🏽. please don’t look to much into this. https://t.co/0jwnnN8mZ1
With the New York Mets continuing to fall off a cliff, their fans have so little to rejoice over, especially after this crusade. While the thumbs-down era appears to be ending, their woes on the field are not. The Mets really took a team destined for the playoffs and turned it into a toxic, utter disaster.
