NEW YORK (AP) — Looking to help Francisco Lindor out of his early funk, New York Mets fans gave him the Trea Turner treatment.
Cheers instead of catcalls. Warm ovations rather than angry boos. And the star shortstop was certainly appreciative.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all, but it definitely felt good. It felt good to be able to come home and feel the love of the fans,” Lindor said Friday night following New York’s 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
“It fills my heart, for sure. So I appreciate everybody that came out and showed some love — not only for me, but for my teammates as well.”
With Lindor off to a dreadful start at the plate this season, Mets fans followed the lead of their rival brethren in Philadelphia — where notoriously nasty Phillies fans banded together online last summer in support of a slumping Turner.
They came to the ballpark and, rather than continuing to target him with boos, they cheered their new shortstop with the $300 million contract, giving him an out-of-the-ordinary standing ovation when he stepped into the batter’s box.
It worked. Turner soon got hot and turned his season around, helping the Phillies reach the NL Championship Series.
“I think that was extremely cool, extremely special. I’m sure he loved it,” Lindor said.
With the Mets on the road last weekend, a fan suggested on social media that New Yorkers do the same for Lindor — and team owner Steve Cohen said he loved the idea.
“It worked in Philly with Turner. Positivity goes a long way,” Cohen posted on the platform X.
So before each of Lindor’s at-bats Friday, fans in the scattered crowd of 18,822 on a blustery night at Citi Field gave him an ovation.
Lindor, who is batting .111 with two RBIs in the third season of a $341 million, 10-year contract, was aware that might happen.
“Of course,” he said. “It’s in my face every time I open social media. So yeah, I saw Steve’s tweet, I saw a couple people’s tweet. At the end of the day, people can do whatever they want to do, and it was something that I wasn’t really expecting. I knew it was something out there. When it happened, when I walked up, and every at-bat, it felt really good. This is home. So, I love playing here. I love playing in front of the fans here.
“At the end of the day, I try to put up a show day in and day out for them.”
Maybe the vocal support made a difference, too.
Lindor drew a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, then singled sharply in the middle of a rally and scored in the fifth. He was retired on a hard-hit grounder in the seventh and finished 1 for 3.
New York won for the sixth time in eight games after opening 0-5.
“Everybody that came out, thank you for the love for sure. It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Lindor said.
Cohen was happy to see the response, too.
“Thank You Mets fans for your positivity tonight. I know the players felt it,” he posted on X.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
