The New York Mets are getting a lot of heat from their own front office for the “thumbs down” gesture they made in response to being booed by their fans. Now, others have chimed in on the matter as well. It's a list the includes Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who has officially entered the chat.
What an interesting point from the owner of the Colts.
The Mets have been in a tailspin for over a month and currently sit at 63-67 overall, 7.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. As the losses have piled up, so has the booing from the home crowd. The players responded by giving a thumbs down gesture whenever they did something good, an idea that was quickly put to rest by Mets president Sandy Alderson.
“In a post-game press conference today, Javy Baez stated that his ‘thumbs down’ gesture during the game was a message to fans who recently have booed him and other players for poor performance. These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with similar intent, are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Irsay and the Colts aren't used to getting booed as they have had plenty of successes dating back a couple of decades now. In fact, the last time a notable chorus of booing rang out for their franchise, was when word had leaked during a preseason game that Andrew Luck was retiring while he was still on the sidelines.
It will be hard for Baez or any Mets player to dispute the point made by the Colts' owner.