Few play to the fans more than Starling Marte, who interacts with plenty in right field and usually has a good time.
Rarely do those fans give back, though.
Late in Friday’s 12-6, Game 5 win of the NLCS over the Dodgers at Citi Field, a boy caught Marte’s attention.
During the warmups before an inning, Marte threw a ball to the young fan, who traded that ball for a necklace.
Marte put it on and kept it on as he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning.
“In my next at-bat, I ended up getting a hit there,” Marte, through interpreter Alan Suriel, said of his RBI single in the eighth. “I kind of just kept looking at him. So I just kept it. But it was a really special moment.”
On this night, any good luck charms Marte might have been using earlier worked, too.
The right fielder smacked three doubles, drove in three runs and scored once.
If this was the final game Marte plays at Citi Field this season, he provided one more moment for fans near right field.
“Usually in the eighth inning, I start to throw the balls to fans because I want the kids to go with a little memory,” Marte said.