http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/bas...3660.xml&coll=1
NEW YORK -- Carlos Beltran had to be pushed. He had to be pulled. He had to be prodded.
After being booed by Mets fans since he went hitless in his first two at-bats on Opening Day, the center fielder was more than a little reluc tant to come out for a curtain call after his two-run homer last night.
Carlos Delgado, who follows his friend in the Mets batting order, was well into his at-bat before Beltran -- at the prompting of teammate Julio Franco -- responded to the chants of "Car-los Bel-tran" and climbed a few steps up out of the dugout and waved.
Asked why it took him so long, Beltran said simply, "It happened that way."
Realizing that Beltran might be committing professional suicide if he ignored the fans in that situation, Franco said he kept telling Beltran to acknowledge the applause.
"I told him he owed it to the fans. 'Those are our fans,'" Franco said. "Just go out and wave at them. Embrace them."
Beltran, however, was clearly not happy with the fans' fair-weather na ture.
"I'm a friend that is a friend when you are doing well and also when you are doing bad," he explained. "That's the way I am. I'm not saying the New York fans are bad. They're good. But I do believe they can be better."