Matt Williams had some questions waiting for him after the Washington Nationals’ 8-7 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
The concerns were over a number of baffling late-inning calls Williams made against New York that effectively lost the game for Washington, not the least of which was his decision to have Anthony Rendon bunt on a 3-1 count in the bottom of the ninth with Jayson Werth on first.
Moves like this, combined with the team’s continued inability to catch up to the division-leading Mets, have left Nats fans exasperated.
In this spirit, some sneaked into the Nationals’ postgame press conference Tuesday night and booed as the manager left the stage.
NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra spotted video of the incident. The fans were at least polite enough to wait for him to finish shrugging to start the jeers.
Despite this run-in, Williams is trying to stay positive, per Sporting News’ Travis Durkee.
Speaking with 106.7 The Fan in Washington on Wednesday morning, Williams called the team’s fans “fantastic” and noted their passion when asked about their recent anger.
“They’re avid supporters of all of us,” Williams said. “And we’ll leave it at that.”
Well, he’s not wrong. Avidness is characteristic of a fanbase that will drive a coach out of town by torchlight and make managing expectations a very difficult task.
Then again, no matter who your fanbase is, it’s never a good sign when its booing spills over into the press conferences. That’s a pretty reliable mineshaft canary when it comes to a coach’s job security.
Dan is on Twitter. Boo him there on his lunch break.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com