You knew this would be the next step in the overblown drama that is the Thumbening. Javy Báez explained that he and some of his teammates were doing a thumbs down on the bases as a way of “booing” back at the Mets fans who have booed them. The Mets front office and ownership FREAKED OUT about such a HORRIFIC DISPLAY OF AWFULNESS, and thus the players were going to have to apologize. It is lame, I think the booing Mets fans are sufficiently big boys and girls that they could take a little thumb gesturing, but whatever. This is how this cycle goes.
From Javy Báez, who tried to explain that it was less about “booing the fans” and more about communicating to the fans, hey, you can’t boo me now (you kinda have to see how he explains it, which makes sense to me (not that I really care either way, because I still think the whole thing was just funny)):
Javier Báez when asked if he’s surprised about the firestorm his comments created: pic.twitter.com/m6eQaRhLpi
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) August 31, 2021
And from Francisco Lindor, who is signed on for a decade, so this is kind of a bigger deal to him than to Báez, who will be out the door in free agency in a month:
“It was wrong and I apologize to whoever I offended. It was not my intent to offend people, we can’t go against the fans.”
– Francisco Lindor on the thumbs down pic.twitter.com/TAMWjSf9v5
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 31, 2021
Francisco Lindor on the boos and how important honesty is to him:
“It sucked getting booed, I don’t like it. However, I have sucked at times. I haven’t done my part when it comes to the offensive side.
The media here is an honest one, and the fans here are honest.” pic.twitter.com/LIpG1i0yYa
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 31, 2021