Juan Soto Embraces Yankee Stadium Hostility In Return With The New York Mets

About an hour into Halloween after the Yankees lost a heartbreaking Game 5 of the World Series to the Dodgers, Juan Soto stood in the middle of a quiet clubhouse answering waves of questions where the main topic was his future plans, something occuring after he was the final Yankee to watch the Dodgers celebrate on the field.

At the time Soto could not possibly know what the future held and might not have been aware of the schedule for the following season which was released a little over a month earlier. He could not have known if he would be a visitor to Yankee Stadium or returning to the same lineup where he batted in front of Aaron Judge.

By the opening weeks of December, Soto’s future plans were solidified with a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal to play for the Mets and billionaire owner Steve Cohen on a team who took the Dodgers to Game 6 of the NLCS after a highly difficult opening two months under first year executive David Stearns.

And when Soto’s name was officially on the contract with the Mets, it meant that the third Friday of May would be his return to the Bronx and a hostile one. Seeing how calm Soto can be during high pressure at-bats or even any at-bats from his 41-homer season with the Yankees, it was hardly surprising Soto embraced what awaited him earlier in his comments earlier this week and seemed to have a good time with it during his return to Yankee Stadium even in a 6-2 loss for the Mets.

Soto heard seven set of boos. The first was when took some pregame warmups in the outfield. The second and slightly louder set occurred when his name was introduced shortly before the national anthem.

The main act of the booing portion of the program occurred two batters in with all sorts of boos and a few profane chants mixed in. Soto soaked it in, stepped out of the batter’s box and then tipped his helmet to the crowd who was not only booing him but also doing so while standing on their feet.

This was after exchanging waves with those in his former dugout and it occurred before he tied a career high with three walks and becoming the first Met with three walks in a Subway Series game since Curtis Granderson on Aug. 3, 2016 when he was three years into his Mets’ tenure after spending 2010 through 2013 playing in front of Yankee fans, who most certainly did not approach the vitriol reserved for Soto and seemingly coordinated on social media and elsewhere.

“You’ve got to embrace it,” Soto said. “At the end of 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.”

Those were Soto’s words in the middle of the visiting clubhouse where he previously appeared for the San Diego Padres May 26-28, 2023 and the Washington Nationals May 7-9, 2021 and June 12-13, 2018.

It was the words of someone confident in himself and in his reasons besides the Mets offering him the most money for leaving the Yankees, whose fans in the right field seats later turned their backs to his presence.

“It was a pretty great environment,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Certainly one of those nights where you can really feel the energy in the building.”

The energy in the building was present all night but seemed to pick up in the ninth when the Mets percolated at the plate for the first time, getting within four runs and having two on for Soto to get a chance at prolonging matters.

It seemed set up for a dramatic at-bat full of foul balls perhaps similar to the clinic Soto displayed against Hunter Gaddis before hitting a homer in Cleveland to secure a trip to the World Series.

After two pitches from Luke Weaver, it was over with a harmless flyball to center field and following a night of greeting former teammates and coaches ahead of the hostility from the stands, the flyball meant comments about it being another game which often is the view from players about the Subway Series.

“It’s just another game,” Soto said. “It’s really uncomfortable that we didn’t get the win. I don’t focus on the fans. We’ve got to focus on the game, being a professional and trying to win the game.”

Soto handled the entire thing the way you’d expect. The only thing missing was the big moment at the plate from amongst the game’s more dangerous bats.