Mets aren’t happy their fans cheered for Pete Alonso at Citi Field: ‘It’s crazy’
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — The ovation that Pete Alonso received from the crowd at Citi Field after his game-tying home run, the 300th of his career, on Tuesday night, didn’t sit right with some Mets players.
Visit zeppelin.cool for more information.
“To have that kind of reaction to an opposing player, it’s crazy to me,” Mets starter Sean Manaea said. “I’ve just never seen anything like that before.”
Star shortstop Francisco Lindor made a similar comment on Monday night in reference to how Mets fans cheered for Alonso in his first game back in Queens. Lindor didn’t think those fans applauded rookie pitcher Jonah Tong enough, who pitched well and didn’t allow a hit to Alonso.
At one point on Monday, Mets fans booed Tong when he walked Alonso, stripping them of an opportunity to see the ex-Met swing away. Those same fans groaned when Alonso’s fly ball with home run distance hooked foul down the left-field line earlier in that same plate appearance.
“It gets to a point where it’s like, ‘Show Jonah Tong a little love, he got him out,’” Lindor said.
Both Manaea and Lindor, leaders in the Mets’ clubhouse, chose their words carefully when speaking about the reception for Alonso. They both recognized that Alonso is deserving of all the love he’s received. Those two could attest to what Alonso meant to the Mets organization. Still, they were taken aback by the way Mets fans were rooting for the opposition.
“I know everybody loves him,” Manaea said. “He’s the man, but yeah, he’s not here. So to see the reaction from the fans like that, I don’t know, it’s just different. Never seen anything like that.”
The sequence in the ninth inning, when Alonso crushed his milestone homer, was unprecedented.
While interim closer Kodai Senga was trying to record the save, hordes of Mets fans rooted for the other team’s best hitter to go deep and tie the game.
When Alonso hit a home run, the entire stadium erupted. It was the sort of crowd reaction you’d expect when a star Mets player hit a clutch home run, not when someone in another uniform did. Those cheers didn’t stop until Alonso finished his home run trot, celebrated with his Orioles teammates and then reemerged from Baltimore’s dugout for a curtain call.
Mets interim manager Andy Green, who typically delivers long-winded and thoughtful answers, said simply that he’s never seen a visiting player receive a curtain call.
Other players in the Mets’ clubhouse weren’t overly critical of the fan base. Senga, through an interpreter, said it didn’t bother him that Alonso got that type of reception, but only because it was Alonso. Green spun the reception for Alonso in a positive manner during his postgame presser on Monday.
“I think it’s a message to our players is that you sell out to win in this city and you do impressive things, they’ll love you forever,” Green said. “I think that’s a powerful message.”
Part of the context for the way Mets fans have treated Alonso this week is his departure in free agency this past winter. Those same fans who couldn’t stop rooting for Alonso on Tuesday turned those cheers into a chant in support of the Mets’ firing president of baseball operations David Stearns. Perhaps if these games mattered more to the Mets’ playoff chances, they wouldn’t be as vocal in their support of Alonso.
“I know the guys in here, we are grinding our butts off, and stuff like that happens,” Manaea said, “but yeah, I’ve never seen anything like that before. It’s kind of crazy.”
Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.