ANAHEIM, CALIF. – As Carlos Correa, his wife, Daniella, and their 8-month-old son, Kylo, spent 10 hours Thursday traipsing across Disneyland — both parks, basically every ride — every now and then, someone wearing a Dodgers uniform would spot the Twins shortstop and start heading his way.
Correa isn't exactly Public Enemy No. 1 in the Los Angeles area, but it sure seemed like it when the Twins played two games at Dodger Stadium ahead of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Correa was a part of the 2017 Astros team that won the World Series against the Dodgers, only for the sign-stealing scandal to retroactively tarnish that moment. Correa is booed everywhere, but it was different in SoCal. Louder, more consistent and full of ire.
But within the bounds of the Happiest Place on Earth, not so much.
"When I see a person approaching me with a Dodger hat, the people around me, they close in, thinking that they might be something," Correa said of several Disneyland encounters. "And they're like, 'Hey Carlos, I'm a fan! Can I take a picture with you?' And I go like, 'Yeah, of course, let's take a picture.' "
Through two days off in California — Monday in Los Angeles and Thursday in Anaheim — Correa and his crew went to the aquarium and restaurants in addition to the theme park. And all the people who recognized him just wanted pictures or memorabilia or autographs, not a confrontation.
Correa has become accustomed to the booing, accepted it as an unavoidable part of his career now. But while it might have been jarring at first — and possibly a bit this season when he went from being one of many booed on the Astros to the sole member of the Twins receiving that treatment — it has ceased to be a big topic of conversation. At least among his parents, who no longer call after such games to ask if he's OK.
It has been a new phenomenon for Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to regularly witness, though. Baldelli said he feels for Correa but is glad the fans don't usually cross a line with their jeers aimed at anything personal or relating to Correa's family.
"I couldn't be more impressed with the way Carlos deals with everything," Baldelli said. "… Part of me is like, it's got to be hard. Because no matter who you are, you hear it. … He's still able to focus on his job very well and go out there and ignore things that I think would certainly distract other people in a pretty major way."
Correa said if the boos come on defense when he's fielding, that's pretty easy to tune out, since that side comes so naturally to him that he doesn't really have to think. Hitting is when he really has to not let his focus waiver, which is what the booers are hoping to accomplish. And even though Correa's bat has cooled – hitting .175 in July and .226 in August so far, with just nine RBI in that time – the "Cheater!" chants don't seem to be the reason.
The Twins as a whole have been a bit meh recently, entering Friday's game at 57-53 and a 1 ½ games back from Cleveland in the American League Central. But the off days provided opportunities to mentally and physically unwind before potentially beginning a bounce-back against the below-.500 Angels.
Correa is certainly going into the matchup refreshed. He said Thursday was one of the best off days of his entire career. He watched his son light up when he saw a life-sized version of his Mickey Mouse toy. The Star Wars and Marvel fan was able to feel like he was in one of the movies. Correa admitted it was probably more fun for Dad — a self-proclaimed kid at heart — than son, who probably was most excited anytime he saw a waterfall or fountain.
"I didn't want to leave," Correa said. "We left not because we were tired. We left because the baby had to go to sleep."
And Correa had a somewhat revelatory realization about the road-game taunting, sparked from all the surprisingly pleasant Dodgers fan interactions.
"In the stadium, when I go, they like boo and stuff, and it's like an entertainment type of thing for everyone to just do that," Correa said. "But when they see me on the streets, they're like super nice.
"… It's super cool."
