Mets fans get their turn to wave goodbye to Seattle's Jesse Winker
Who the heck is Jesse Winker and why do Mets fans despise him so much?
Winker was the central villain in Saturday night’s 5-4 Mets victory over the Mariners.
Seattle’s leftfielder, who first earned Mets’ fans wrath when he was with the Reds in 2019, hit a game-tying, three-run home run off Chasen Shreve in the seventh inning, took his time going around the bases and then waved to Citi Field fans as he crossed home plate and walked back to the dugout.
Boos rained down on Winker, and Shreve yelled at him from the mound about his Cadillac trot around the bases.
But the boos for Winker had started way before the first pitch of this series on Friday night. From the moment Winker was announced as part of the Mariners’ lineup, Mets fans with good memories were ready to pounce.
The enmity stems from a 2019 incident when Winker was with the Reds and he hit a home run off Edwin Diaz, made a game-ending catch and then waved to Mets fans in the outfield.
On Saturday, Winker struck out against Diaz for the last out of the game, but not before launching a long, foul drive to right in a bid to tie it.
After the strikeout, Mets fans waved goodbye to Winker, a 28-year-old from Buffalo.
“He's elite,” Winker said of Diaz, according to MLB.com. “He's a special pitcher, a special closer. We've had some battles against one another, as well, and he came out on top, and they got to send me off with a wave. So it’s kind of perfect how it works. You’ve got to love baseball. It's poetry. It's beautiful. And for that little game in May, that was perfect for their side. That’s probably exactly how they wanted to close it.”
Winker said he enjoys the back-and-forth with Mets fans, as did another villain from years past, Chipper Jones.
"I'm going to be honest with you, I love them,” Winker told MLB.com. “They are an amazing group of people. They are very passionate about their team and their city. And from a guy who, born in upstate New York, is a big fan of that football team up there, I can understand the passion and I respect it. This thing we've got going on is special."
Winker spent his first five seasons with the Reds before getting traded to Seattle in the offseason. He’s off to a slow start with the Mariners, batting .217 with two home runs going into Sunday’s series finale.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
