A week after Chris Christie labelled an irate caller a “bum” during his stint as a sports radio host, the New Jersey governor’s guest role at a baseball game ended in similarly dismal circumstances.
Christie attended the New York Mets’ game against the St Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night and showed off his athletic prowess – he was a good high school baseball player – when he caught a foul ball with his left hand, and gave it to a young boy nearby in the crowd. If Christie was expecting some affection from his fellow Mets fans, he was mistaken: they booed him heartily. Christie didn’t get much respect as the incident was replayed on the Fox Sports broadcast either. “Nice to see him get from the beach here to the ballpark,” said announcer Dan McLaughlin to laughter in the commentary booth.
Cards' PXP man Dan @dannymactv McLaughlin throws giant shade on Chris Christie's foul catch (video HT: @dcwoodruff) pic.twitter.com/OmabqT9nML
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 19, 2017
McLaughlin was referencing the recent incident in which Christie was pictured sunbathing on a beach he had earlier closed to the public, during a government shutdown. That decision also drew ire from callers during his guest slot as a presenter on New York’s WFAN. “Governor, next time you want to sit on a beach that is closed to the entire world except you, you put your fat ass in a car and go to one that’s open to all your constituents,” said one caller, Mike from Montclair. Christie’s spokesman, Brian Murray, denied the governor had been sunbathing. “He did not get any sun. He was wearing a baseball cap,” Murray said.
Christie was also booed by New York fans when the city hosted the Super Bowl in 2014. The governor appeared in Times Square in the run-up to the game in a Dallas Cowboys shirt. He does, however, have company: George W Bush and Barack Obama were both booed by sports crowds. Bush when he threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park in 2008, and Obama, perplexingly, as he delivered a video tribute to the victims of 9/11 last year.
The Mets didn’t provide much comfort for Christie on Tuesday. They lost 5-0 to the Cardinals in an error-riddled performance.
