FORT MYERS, Fla. — Joey Gallo has escaped The Bronx, but it can be difficult to escape Yankees fans.
Gallo, now with the Twins, heard significant boos at his spring training home Monday afternoon, when the Yankees and their fans invaded for a Grapefruit League game.
Fans at Hammond Stadium booed Gallo when his name was announced in Minnesota’s starting lineup.
Gallo, who played first base, then heard more jeers in each of his three at-bats, in which he blooped a single to left, flew out to right and struck out swinging.
As Aaron Boone looked to the other dugout, he remembered Gallo’s difficult calendar year in New York.
“It was tough for him to get on track. … Sometimes you can want it too much and get in your way a little bit,” the Yankees manager said before the Twins beat the Yankees, 1-0. “The game is hard. And I never questioned his intent, his commitment, his work ethic. He never ran from anything.
“He never wanted out of the lineup, anything like that. He faced it head-on.”
Gallo was the prize of the 2021 trade deadline, when he came over from the Rangers with a reputation as a big-time slugger and big-time whiffer.
With the Yankees, he did not make enough contact to get into his power and hit just .159 with 25 home runs in 140 games in 2021 and ’22.
In 501 plate appearances with the Yankees, he struck out 194 times.
The two-time Gold Glover also brought his struggles to the outfield in becoming an all-around disappointment.
His name has become a four-letter word at Yankee Stadium, where fans chanted “Joey Gallo” — even after he had been traded — when Aaron Hicks scuffled in the outfield last season.
Gallo was dealt to the Dodgers at last year’s deadline and did not turn a corner, posting a .671 OPS that was not much better than his mark with the Yankees.
He signed a one-year, $11 million pact with the Twins this offseason and is a bounce-back candidate, especially with the shift regulations that could help heavy pull hitters like himself.
“I just think it was a challenge for him. It was tough,” Boone said of Gallo, who said he did not have time to talk to reporters as he worked out before the game. “I certainly have a lot of respect for him and how he went about it.”