Joey Gallo looks at flyball during game vs. Red Sox
Go to Yankee Stadium and pay close attention when Joey Gallo walks up to the plate. Through his walk-off song of choice, you’ll hear some cheers, a few murmurs and some even booing before he gets a chance to prove it to be a good at-bat.
And you’d likely hear that all game long no matter the circumstances. But Gallo doesn’t care much for the outside, especially after what he saw last season when he came over from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline.
“I didn’t really realize until after the season that I was really getting f–king blasted by everybody,” Gallo told The New York Post’s Steve Serby. “After the season obviously, you’re at home chillin’ a little bit more and then you’re like, ‘They didn’t like me too much there in New York, I guess, so.’ This year I’m just going to try to win games.”
It seemed the vitriol shelled out at Gallo began just a couple of weeks post-trade, as he struggled to get going in pinstripes. He wouldn’t get going either, slashing just .160/.303/.404 in 58 games with 13 homers and 22 RBI. Sure, he had his moments and Yankee fans were quick to scream at the top of their lungs when it happened. But boos flooded the Bronx whenever he struck out, and that was 88 times.
“When I first got traded here I think they thought I was Babe Ruth or something,” Gallo said.
But Gallo added that he understands “they’re passionate fans, they want to win, they expect you to play good,” which…