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Mets' Delgado: I wasn't sending message to fans

Carlos Delgado in the dugout after his second home run

Carlos Delgado, shown in the dugout after hitting his second home run in Sunday's game, said he didn't refuse a curtain call to tweak Mets fans who have booed him this year. "I didn't think it was the right moment," Delgado said. (Newsday / Kathy Kmonicek / April 27, 2008)

BY KATIE STRANG | caitlin.strang@newsday.com; Staff writer Ant

April 29, 2008

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Carlos Delgado insisted yesterday that he wasn't trying to send a message to the fans when he denied their request for a curtain call Sunday in the Mets' 6-3 victory over Atlanta. There are moments that warrant a tip of the hat, Delgado said, but in his opinion, his second home run of Sunday's game was not one of them.

"I hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. We were winning by two. All I did was add another run," Delgado said in a lively 20-minute discussion with reporters before yesterday's rain-out at Shea Stadium. "I didn't think that was the right moment. It wasn't a walk-off home run, it wasn't a tiebreaking home run. It was a home run in April."

Delgado reiterated that he appreciated the support from fans, but also noted that being booed isn't pleasant.

"It doesn't feel good, but you have to block it, because you have to go out and perform," Delgado said.

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Delgado has received his fair share of jeers this season. Heading into Sunday's game, Delgado was hitting .186 and had been dropped to sixth in the order. But when he smacked his second solo home run of the day, the crowd of 53,487 showed its appreciation. Delgado chose not to respond.

The curtain-call request may have been an olive branch from fans or a show of support for the oft-criticized first baseman, but Delgado said his job is to play baseball, not to interpret the intentions of others.

"Sometimes you do things that you've got to live with," Delgado said when asked if his actions could tarnish his relationship with the fans. "If that's the case, that's the case."

Delgado said he has not received the same sort of treatment anywhere else during his playing career, and described New York fans as more "outgoing" than others, but he also pointed out that the fervor goes both ways.

"If you do good, they let you know. If you do bad, they let you know, too," Delgado said.

The booing, of course, hasn't been solely directed at him. In his first start at Shea Stadium, pitcher Johan Santana was showered with boos after giving up six hits - three of them home runs - and five runs in a 5-3 loss to Milwaukee. Lately, relievers Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis have taken the brunt of the negativity - just, Delgado quipped, "for throwing ball one."

Delgado knows it has to be hard for them and doesn't necessarily think it's fair, but he said he can't do much besides "hope they get 1-2-3 innings."

Said David Wright: "There's a lot of great things that come along with playing here. But with that, you have to accept the responsibility that you're under a microscope and your slumps are going to be written about. Along with that comes some boos."

With the mercurial nature of Mets fans' approval, particularly this season, it's hard to believe some of the outright hostility isn't linked with some residual pain from last year's colossal late-season meltdown. And that's a pain that any player in the Mets' clubhouse can understand.

Said Wright: "Do I necessarily agree with the booing? No. Do I understand where the booing comes from? Yes. We lost an opportunity last year on going to the playoffs. That was our division to win and we gave it away. So I'm as frustrated as any fan out there."

Regardless of whether he agrees with Delgado's actions, Wright said he'll stick behind him, and manager Willie Randolph offered a similar response.

"It was his choice. Some guys are not big on curtain calls. I know a lot of players don't believe in that," Randolph said. "I think you have to respect that, just like you respect the fans' right to show their displeasure."

There might not be any permanent way to placate the fans, but Delgado knows a solution exists to temper most of the criticism.

"If you're not playing good, you have to play better," he said. "Simple as that."

Staff writer Anthony Rieber contributed to this story.

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