 I shot this at CitiField back on April 4. Lugo was fabulous with the fans (pretty much the only player to be so) that entire weekend. |
I need to rant. I hope it is obvious that I’m not directing this toward most people (at least not most people I know) but to that loud, obnoxious, (I hope) minority that always seems to get heard above everyone else.
I am embarrassed to be part associate with a fan base that boos their own players. I know other fans do it too. Doesn’t make it right. Doesn’t make me hate it any less.
There is nothing worse, to me, than showing your ignorance or arrogance by booing someone you’re supposed to be rooting for. Don’t tell me that you do it to show your displeasure with the manager for continuing to play someone who maybe needs to sit. Don’t tell me you think it helps the player you’re booing to play better (it doesn’t). And don’t tell me that you’re booing him because he makes a lot of money and deserves to be booed if he doesn’t perform well. How well would YOU do YOUR job if every time you had a bad day or made a mistake there was an idiot in your ear booing you?
Idiots. That what you all are, those of you who booed Julio Lugo yesterday. Funny, I didn’t hear any boos for the pitcher who gave up 10 hits in just over four innings. The guy who gave up 8 runs – all of them EARNED – in a game the Sox lost by nine runs. A guy who many had pegged to be this year’s Cy Young winner who couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning. Where were Jon Lester’s boos?
I get it. You can’t boo Lester. He’s a superstar. He battled cancer and won. He pitched the final game of the 2007 World Series. He gives bunnies and puppies to sick children and he puts out forest fires by spitting on them. I get it. Lester’s a kid who we put up on a pedestal and worship, regardless of his performance and Lugo is a veteran who makes too much money and doesn’t produce enough to your liking.
There was only one error on the Sox side yesterday and Jeff Bailey made it. Sure there were balls that looked like Lugo could have (or should have to some of you) reached. And maybe he should have. But most people conveniently forget that Lugo was genuinely hurt. Most people also seem to believe that the Red Sox aren’t playing him every day just because they think Nick Green is legitimately better than him (instead of the more logical fact that they brought him back because they needed another infielder and he’s not 100% so they’re bringing him along slowly).
In a game where Boston had 10 hits and 5 runs, Lugo had two hits (including a home run). In the nine games he’s played in he’s had 10 hits, 2 walks and a .357 average (with one fielding error). There definitely have been a couple of hits that could have/should have been ruled as errors but if any other player (including Nick Green) had that happen, it’d be excused. Lugo, who has a true excuse (again, his mobility is obviously not 100% just coming off of an injury and being given limited playing time) gets crucified. It’s embarrassing and makes Red Sox fans look ignorant. You can’t brag about being the smartest fans in baseball if you think booing a player who is having struggles is productive.
And I really don’t want to hear about your rights as a fan who pays to get into the games, thus helping to pay his salary. Julio Lugo is part of this team. If you choose to spend your money to support this team, you’re choosing to support them all. And if there are players you find you just can’t support, fine, I can certainly understand that, but there’s no need to be a jackass just because you got a ticket into Fenway.
Does it come as a surprise to anyone that Lugo has feelings and your booing really doesn’t do anything but bum him out?
“It’s always good to have them on your side,” Lugo said. “There’s no one – there’s no one in any sport – that can tell you it doesn’t bother them if fans boo. If there’s somebody that says that, it’s [expletive]. It bothers them. It [expletive] bothers me.
“There’s nothing you can do. They’ve got a right to do it. But also people need to understand we’re not perfect. We’re human beings. That’s why we’re here. If not, I would have wings. I’d be beside God right now. I’d be an angel. But I’m not an angel. I’m a human being that lives right here.”
Jeez, he’s human. Go figure.
They all are. Jon Lester too. He’s no angel either – although many try to make him out to be. He’s human with as many failings as the next person. And some of those failings were on display yesterday yet no one in the park felt the need to point them out to him.
I’m not advocating booing Jon Lester. I’m asking for people to realize that just because you think Lugo is everything that’s wrong with this team and just because you think the sun shines out of Lester’s behind, you aren’t necessarily looking at either player with unbiased glasses.
I hate being at the park and hearing one of our guys get booed. It’s an embarrassment. Coupled with the fact that all it really seems to do for the players is make them feel worse than they already do about their performance, what’s the point?
This entitled crap some of the fans have been radiating lately really needs to stop. I have a radical idea. Let’s try cheering for Lugo. Giving him support during a stretch where he seems to need it. How about acting like fans instead of CHB?