I got a variety of responses, both on Facebook and elsewhere, to my article defending Nick Swisher’s complaints about Yankee fans booing him. Click here to read what people said in the comments section of Subway Squawkers. Thanks to everyone for weighing in on the subject. Anyhow, the whole thing got me thinking some more about when and where Yankee fans boo.
Since we started writing this blog way back in 2006, I have been consistent in being against Yankee boobirds. I swear, I think some fans just want to show up at the game so they can vent their frustrations in life against A-Rod/Swisher/Granderson/whoever their target du jour is. Because it’s soooo much to endure being a fan of a team with 27 rings and the best record in the American League this year, still playing October baseball, y’all!
Sure, this postseason’s batting struggles have been extremely frustrating. However, maybe it’s because my co-Squawker is a Mets fan, but I do attempt these days to keep real fan misery in perspective. Not that Mets fans are perfect — the way some of them scapegoated Carlos Beltran was terrible. But their season usually effectively ends in July. The fact the Yankees are still playing in October is something to be thankful for.
While I get complaining about the Yankee lineup these days — I’ve done a ton of that recently! — I don’t get booing them, especially when some Yankee fans are focused on their two-minute hate against the designated Yankee scapegoats that they seem to have forgotten to boo the opponents!
Somebody brought up to me yesterday that Mickey Mantle got booed by Yankee fans. Yes, he was. So was Roger Maris, and Reggie Jackson, and Dave Winfield, and many other Yankee stars. And it was as stupid then to boo as it is now. Imagine the conversation young Yankee fans may have had with their elders over it:
“Tell me, grandpa, did you ever see Mickey Mantle play?”
“Yes, I did, Bobby, and we booed our lungs out at him!”
Anyhow, the subject got me thinking about Yankee fans’ reaction to another high-profile flop. Remember when Jorge Posada was batting .165 last May, and was 9 for his last 62, and Joe Girardi had the nerve to bat him ninth against the Boston Red Sox? Unlike Alex Rodriguez, who has yet to throw a fit over being pinch-hit for, moved down the lineup, and benched during the postseason, Posada had a sitdown snit, pulling himself from the game and throwing a hissy fit. Then, instead of putting on a happy face, he pouted in the dugout. Oh, and he had his wife spread an excuse saying that his back was bothering him, when the only thing really hurting was his ego!
So you would think that these Yankee fans who are so appalled these days at A-Rod, and Granderson, and Swisher, and Cano, for committing the crime of hitting poorly would really have been outraged over Posada’s sitdown strike. After all, not only was he not performing at the plate, something that, by their logic, should automatically be grounds for booing, but he also refused to play against the Red Sox, showing that he wasn’t being a team player, but a diva. Then the next day, he gave a non-apology apology, saying that he “needed a day,” and that he was “trying to move on.” Lovely.
You can guess where I’m going with this. Not only was Posada not booed by these Yankee fans for the “Quit, quit, Jorge” act, but the Bleacher Creatures did a special salute for him the following night, while ESPN kept on focusing on fans holding up a “We stand behind Jorge” sign during the game. To top it all off, Posada got a standing ovation from Yankee fans when he came into the game to pinch-hit the next night. Here’s what I wrote back then:
Look, I am not a fan of booing your own players. But vociferously cheering Posada was flat-out ridiculous. What, exactly, was he being hailed for? Was it for quitting on his own team? Insubordination? Pretending to be injured, when he really wasn’t? Getting his wife to spread that phony story on Facebook and Twitter? Making a rather lame — and late — apology the next day? Sitting in the dugout making the Nomar face? Sorry, but there is nothing Posada did this weekend that was worth giving him a standing ovation for.
So keep that in mind the next time you hear Yankee fans justifying booing their own players. Many of the very same people doing the catcalls now gave Jorge Posada a standing ovation after he quit on his team, as if he were a victim or something.What hypocrites they are.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
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