Juan Soto knew what was headed his way the moment he emerged from the visiting dugout at Yankee Stadium, donned in New York Mets orange and blue — and even then, the vitriol was at levels he had never seen before.
“I was ready for it,” Soto said. “[Yankees fans] are really passionate fans and they’re a little hurt, and they’re going to do the best for their team, and they just feel that way.”
The Bronx is burning with the feeling of being jilted after Soto — arguably the best young hitter in all of baseball who is already on track for a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career — spurned the Yankees after one season, 41 home runs, an American League pennant, and a third-place finish in the MVP voting to join the Mets in December on a record-breaking $765 million deal.
This weekend was Yankees fans’ first opportunity to voice their displeasure with the right-fielder, first raining down merciless jeers upon the 26-year-old, and even turning their back to him when he first took his position in right field during Friday night’s Subway Series opener.
“I think so,” Soto said when asked if this was the worst he had ever been booed. “They were really loud.”
When asked about the bleacher creatures turning their backs to him, Soto admitted, “I didn’t realize that. I was just listening to the boos. I tried not to have any eye contact. Just listened to the boos.”
Soto took it in stride as well as anyone probably could in such a situation.
In his first at-bat, as the steady spew of hatred was raining down, Soto playfully took off his batting helmet, tipped it to the crowd, and mouthed “thank you,” with a bit of a smirk.
“We were just joking in the dugout that I should do it,” Soto said. “So I just did it.”
His standing within the Subway Series has helped alter the landscape of New York baseball entirely and brought a new dimension to this Big Apple rivalry. The Mets are not playing catch-up to the Yankees anymore, they are finally forging their own path that has nothing to do with trying to move out of their crosstown rival’s shadow.
Meanwhile, the Yankees, who used to treat the Mets like the pesky gnat that buzzed their ears twice every summer, are facing the sobering reality that they can no longer use their reputation to own New York City.
Their fans attempted to use this weekend’s Subway Series to prove otherwise, while using Soto as a sounding board.
“You’ve got to embrace it,” Soto said. “At the end of the day, whatever they give you, it is what it is. You’ve got to be a professional. You’ve got to take it as a man. I was just enjoying the moment.”
“If someone’s able to handle it, it’s Juan Soto,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza added.
