PHILADELPHIA – A day later, the Mets were still furious with the fans at Citizens Bank Park for celebrating Jose Reyes’ apparent head injury.
Much to the dismay of Willie Randolph and Mets closer Billy Wagner, among others, the fans loudly cheered when Reyes collided with the knee of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley in the third inning Friday.
Reyes, who writhed on the ground in pain for several moments, said he blacked out briefly but convinced the Mets to let him stay in the game.
“We live in a culture where the fans are that way, where they love to hate,” Randolph said yesterday. “It’s just sad, it really is. The guy could have really been hurt. But we’ve seen that before. It’s a weird culture we live in.”
Wagner, a former Phillie, who is booed every time he pitches here, was even more critical of the fans in a city that once cheered former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin’s career-ending neck injury.
“It’s really sad when humanity comes to the point where somebody getting hurt is fun to watch,” Wagner said. “That just tells you where our society is. This is about the only place I’ve seen that. Shoot, they booed Santa Claus. They’ve taken this to a whole new level when you’re cheering for somebody to get hurt.”
For his part, Reyes shrugged off the incident.
“I didn’t pay any attention to that,” he said of the cheers.
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Moises Alou appears to be just days away from rejoining the Mets after the veteran left fielder appeared in his second consecutive minor-league game yesterday morning. In an extended spring training game in Vero Beach, Alou went 2-for-5 and was hit by a pitch. Even more encouraging for the Mets, Alou – sidelined since early March by hernia surgery – was able to play five innings in the outfield.
Mets catcher Brian Schneider is day-to-day after bruising his right forearm during Utley’s at-bat in the eighth inning. X-rays after the game were negative.