A man in the outfield stands at Wrigley Field may be facing charges for impersonating a Mets fan.
SNY aired a video clip Saturday of an unidentified man wearing a hat and shirt with the Mets logo celebrating after catching the ball following a home run hit by catcher Francisco Alvarez in the fifth inning.
But Cubs fans, including a supposed friend sitting right next to him, urged him to throw the ball back onto the field, so the fans complied and gave up their memorabilia.
There was a tired look in the Mets broadcast booth.
“That’s too much peer pressure,” announcer Steve Gelbs said. “Take courage.”
“He’s clearly not a leader,” added analyst Ron Darling.
It’s unusual for the SNY booth to stay silent when criticism is deserved.
At some ballparks, including Wrigley, it is traditional for home team fans to throw back the visiting team’s home run ball as a way of saying “no thanks” and protesting a run.
But it’s rare for fans to throw back a home run ball for their favorite team, even at an away stadium like this time around.
“Most Cubs fans, if they’re sitting in the stands, wouldn’t be opposed to taking the ball home and throwing it back on the field and keeping the home run ball,” Darling said.
But maybe that’s their little secret.”
Shortly afterwards, the man was seen taking his cell phone out of his pocket, as if those who know him were warning him that he was about to become a hot topic.
In his other hand he held a plastic drinking container shaped like a baseball bat.
Alvarez’s solo homer cut the lead to 6-0, his third of the season and second in two consecutive days at hitter-favorable Wrigley Stadium, but the Mets lost the game 8-1 behind some awful pitching by Tyler Megill.
At Friday’s game, a Cubs fan tossed back Alvarez’s home run ball, despite the disappointed look on his face from a kid sitting next to him who may have been repurposing the memento.
