On baseball and tennis comparisons, Francisco Lindor serves food for thought
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, top left, and the Mets' Francisco Lindor, center, watch Serena Williams and Danka Kovinic during the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday in Flushing, Credit: John Minchillo
Francisco Lindor wasn’t just a face in the crowd Monday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. You may have seen the photo of him seated in front of NYC Mayor Eric Adams -- seemingly oblivious to the Mets’ shortstop -- but this wasn’t merely another celebrity showing up for Serena Williams’ (hopefully) long goodbye at the U.S. Open.
Lindor is a huge tennis fan. Really big. Like the kind that occasionally spends an off day or even a late morning at a tournament, as he’s done at times this season. Lindor would have been hanging out Monday at Ashe regardless of who was playing. It just so happened that the eyes of the world also were locked on Flushing for Williams’ first-round match, a straight-set victory, and the emotional salute that followed.
“A special day, a night to remember,” Lindor said Tuesday night before the Mets’ 4-3 loss to the Dodgers. “Serena put on a show and everybody came out to support her. It felt like the finals -- not opening day. The Open did an amazing job of paying tribute to everything she’s done, not only on the court, but off the court as well. And opening doors for a lot of young athletes, especially.”
Lindor hasn’t taken up tennis himself. He’s a bit busy with his regular gig, and with the Mets paying him $341 million over the next decade, baseball demands his singular attention. On Tuesday night, Lindor reached base three times and snapped an 0-for-20 skid with his fifth-inning single. But Lindor is fascinated by some of what tennis shares with his own position, particularly the lateral movements, which are crucial to playing shortstop at an All-Star level.
To casual observers, Lindor’s occupation and tennis would seem to have little in common, other than making contact with a ball. But he views it differently.
“The intensity of going side-to-side, working as hard as they can,” Lindor said. “And as a shortstop that does that, and all of the training during the offseason that goes into that, to see other athletes at the top of the top, it’s fun. You admire that. You appreciate the work.”
As much as Lindor loves tennis, however, there is a part that he finds hard to wrap his brain around. And it’s coping with the inevitable failures -- something that Lindor currently was dealing with as he entered Tuesday night’s series opener in that prolonged slide. The way Lindor looks at it, he’s lucky to play nearly every day. There’s always another opportunity to bounce back. Another trip to the plate, another pitch, over the course of a six-month season.
A professional tennis player doesn’t have that luxury. One bad match sends them home. No second chances. And talking to Lindor about that earlier this month, the concept haunted him. He had just returned from the Mets’ road trip in D.C., where Lindor went to the Citi Open and witnessed No. 1 seed Sloane Stephens suffer a brutal first-round loss. The sight of her disappointment stuck with him.
“That’s the beauty of my game,” Lindor said. “In tennis, they lose, they’re done. They have to wait three week for the next tournament. You have a bad couple of sets, you’re done. I have a bad couple of innings, I come back tomorrow. Unless I get sent down, and if I get sent down, I still go play the game somewhere else.
“I was watching Sloane. She wasn’t playing well, and all l I could think about was, if she loses this match, she’s got to sit with this for weeks. She walked by me after she lost and the expression on her face, she was just devastated. And now she has to go practice for three weeks.”
The conversation about Stephens actually sprung up unsolicited from a wider discussion involving Lindor’s spectacular rebound from his own midseason malaise. It was Lindor who chose to use tennis to help explain the resiliency needed to persevere in baseball -- a key to him restoring his reputation as one of the game’s premier shortstops after a bumpy first year in Flushing.
At the time, Lindor was rolling, on his way to setting the Mets’ single-season record for RBIs by a shortstop with 85 and counting. He’s third among MLB shortstops with 21 homers, is sixth with a .786 OPS and his 5.3 WAR is tied for eighth overall among all players. But even during the hot streaks, Lindor always seems to brace himself mentally for the slumps waiting around the corner.
“Those thoughts will always come back,” Lindor said. “The thing is, did I learn anything from the last time I struggled? And hopefully, can I turn those thoughts away? Or keep them in front of me, but not look at them, you know? That’s why it’s so important to keep your head down and grind. Just go through it.”
Lindor didn’t have that same anxiety watching Serena Monday night. This is a victory lap for her, a celebration for the GOAT of women’s tennis. There’s no more worrying about tomorrow.
“I got goose bumps,” Lindor said, smiling.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
