Some people can drain the fun out of anything.
But it takes a special soul who can wring the goodwill out of a one-handed foul-ball catch. Say, a governor with a 15% approval rating?
Last night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie caught a foul ball at a Mets game, and the crowd started cheering — until they realized it was him and began to boo. Even though he gave it to a child behind him.
Chris Christie catches a foul ball, is immediately booed by #Mets fans. pic.twitter.com/NZeiQTcDbh
— Rob Tornoe (@RobTornoe) July 19, 2017
Christie was sitting in the third row near the Mets dugout when he nabbed the ball hit by Cardinals rookie Paul DeJong during the third inning. The governor, who played catcher on his high school team, made the catch easily.
But boos rang out, and the announcer just twisted the knife. “Nice to see him get off the beach and to the ball park,” said Fox Sports’ Dan McLaughlin, referring to the recent uproar after Christie was photographed relaxing on a state beach closed by a budget furlough and lying about it at a press conference.
Chris Christie caught a foul ball at the Mets game.
Then the fans in the stadium booed him. pic.twitter.com/Rpit4jxha3
— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 19, 2017
< p>With six months to go in Christie’s term, his approval rating recently polled at 15%, the lowest for a governor in 30 years. It follows a year in which two of Christie’s top aides were convicted in the Bridgegate scandal. His reputation has also been dented by the belittling optics of his relationship with President Trump, in which Trump accepts Christie’s vocal public support but keeps passing over him for jobs.
Overall, July hasn’t been Christie’s month. During his tryout for a hosting job on sports-radio station WFAN, a caller told him he did a “horrible job” and that he should have “put your fat ass in a car” and driven to an open public beach.
“You’re a bum,” snapped Christie, before calling him one of the “communists in Montclair” — perhaps the first time a governor has described his constituents as communists.