Carlos Bertran has experienced this before.
He first returned to Houston on July 28, 2005, after leaving the Astros to join the Mets as a free agent.
During his time at the plate and in the field, he was met with a chorus of boos from Astros fans.
Reflecting on that experience, he remarked, “It’s hard to block boos. It’s hard to block everything.”
Now, as a special assistant to Mets president David Stearns, Bertran can relate to what Juan Soto is facing this weekend during his return to the Bronx with the Mets.
“Nobody wants to be booed,” he shared in an interview prior to the Mets’ 3-2 victory on Saturday. “But honestly, this was anticipated. Soto was fantastic for the Yankees last year and was a valuable part of their team before signing with the Mets.”
Bertran drew parallels to his own experience with the Mets, which came after he had spent a year with the Astros following a trade from Kansas City in 2004.
He had a standout postseason with the Astros, so transitioning to the Mets wasn’t easy for him, either.
“When I returned to Houston, I’ve never heard a player get booed like I was,” he chuckled on Saturday. “Sometimes, you just get caught up trying to do too much. I think Soto handled it well [on Friday].”
He pointed out that Soto even acknowledged the fans by giving an ironic nod with his helmet while the crowd booed.
“It was great,” Bertran said. “It’s part of the game, and you have to deal with it.”
While fans can be loud and brutal, Bertran felt the reaction wasn’t overly harsh.
“I don’t think it’s personal,” he added, noting that he didn’t feel any malicious intent.
Bertran referenced Reggie Jackson’s famous saying about how fans can treat players unfairly, telling Soto to take the experience in stride.
It seems Soto shares this attitude.
During the Friday game, he walked three times despite the boos.
“He had a solid batting performance,” Bertran commented.
On Saturday, Soto walked again, got a hit, and showed strong performance overall.
Interestingly, there were more Mets fans present on Saturday than Friday, yet the boos remained just as loud. In response, Clark Schmidt felt the need to increase the Pitchcom volume.
“I expected this response from the fans,” Schmidt said.
“Even though it was challenging, I really enjoyed playing alongside him, so hearing the boos was not entirely surprising,” the pitcher mentioned.
