That headline is “boo” in Japanese according to Google Translate. I have no idea what it sounds like or if Japanese people even boo. But, the fact that I can just throw that into a search engine and get an answer in 2 seconds is incredible.
But I digress.
Yesterday, moments after designating Hideki Matsui for assignment (and putting him on a direct flight from Baltimore to Tokyo) Joe Maddon made some pointed comments about fans that booed Matsui at the Trop on Sunday.
This is generally considered to be a touchy subject in baseball circles. First, very few players get booed that haven’t done something to draw the ire of the fans. More importantly, there is a tacit understanding that it is hard to criticize people’s behavior after they dropped a few hundred dollars so that you could play with your buddies. Those caveats aside, I think Joe made the right move here. And I agree with him.
No can argue that Matsui’s time with the Rays was anything but an unmitigated disaster. The high-point came, literally, on the first pitch he saw as a member of the team when he clubbed a long fly ball off the top of the wall with the bases loaded. It ended properly, if uncermoniously, after he left 37,000 runners in scoring position in a 3-game series against Seattle. His hands have slowed and his time has come to become a Japanese broadcaster or something.
But, I agree with Joe that Matsui’s stink-bomb at the plate doesn’t justify a boo. I cannot say that I have never booed a player. In fact, I can’t even say that I only booed players when I was a punk-ass teenager or college kid. I have booed. But I regret it.
If you’re going to boo, I think there are only a couple of justifications:
1) It is ok to boo a guy that isn’t trying;
2) It is ok to boo a dirty player that hurt one of your guys;
3) It is ok to boo a guy that said your hometown was full of “foreigners” or “kid[s] with purple hair” and “20-year old mom[s] with four kids;”
4) It is ok to boo a guy that took his talents to South Beach on national television; and
5) It is ok to boo AJ Pierzynski.
Matsui obviously doesn’t fit those elements. He did everything professionally. He even accepted an assignment to the minor leagues…willingly! You can bet no other aging superstar is willing to go to those lengths to get one more taste of the show. As I wrote before, that kind of humility should be celebrated. I was disappointed with his performance too. But I don’t think performance alone justifies his home fans booing him.
In fact, I would argue performance doesn’t warrant booing visiting players either. Derek Jeter has to be one of the most-booed players in baseball. I never understood that. Same goes for Longo when the Rays go on the road.
So, I put it to you. When do you boo? Is it ever ok?
Good points, except for the bases-loaded, top of the wall on the first pitch thing never happened. He flew out in his first major league at-bat with the team and went 0-4 in his first minor league game….
Well, touche. He homered in his first game but that isn’t what I was thinking of. I could swear he hit a ball off the top of the wall in the first inning with the bases loaded. I remember it because, as he was coming to the plate, Dewayne and BA were talking about his proclivity to swing at the first pitch. But, I guess I was thinking of the two-run bomb he hit in the bottom of the 1st on June 1, his third game, amidst a five-run rally. Go figure. Good catch.
We’ll find out in 10 days if Matsui accepts an assignment to the minor leagues. Get your facts right before posting this nonsense. He started in extended spring training and worked his way to the majors, as any player would who signed in Late April. For your next post, maybe you could write Evan Longoria willingly accepted an assignment to Triple-A Durham, and disregard that he’s only there on rehab!
Well, here’s the thing. Anyone that signs in April is going to stretch out in extended spring. But, those guys are going to get Major League deals and a spot on the 40-man. Matsui got neither. Matsui signed a minor league deal and wasn’t given a spot on the 40-man. He agreed to play in the minor leagues, not to get into shape, but to prove he deserved a roster spot. The Rays had to move Brandon Guyer to the 60-day DL to make room for Matsui when they decided to bring him to the big club. That is a lot different than a rehab assignment.
Also, just for the record, the Rays are not going to offer Matsui a minor league deal in 10 days. While a player can be outrighted to the minor league 10-days after a DFA, it isn’t required and it isn’t solely up to the player. The Rays cut him. This is the vehicle to cut him.
Google Translate this:
あなたはとても愚かです！
It looks like Mark has inherited a troll…that’s when you know you’ve made it big, Mark!
To play off an earlier post though, I didn’t boo because I have lost the ability to care right now. So in the end it was just a factor (of many) that has made me relatively bored with our team this year. Maybe Roberts is the spark (that we said Luke Scott, Matsui, and even Molina would be) that gets the team rolling…he certainly had a fine first game with the team.
If I’d have been there, I would have booed too. My boo would not have been directed to Matsui who has been a pro’s pro his entire career but it would have been directed at Joe Maddon for playing him in a situation where he was set up to fail. He hadn’t hit a ball more than 100 feet the entire series yet Joe runs him up there with 2 on and 2 out in the 9th when a hit ties or wins the game for you. Maybe Joe was feeling a little guilty when he spoke out.
This was a great point I had not considered. Maybe that is why Joe was so upset about the boos.
I completely agree with this post. Matsui is a professional and has consistently played the game “the right way.” It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t successful; however, that’s the inherent risk of signing such an old player. My only additional comment would be that situation #4 that you outlined should include players who blatently left for more money (read A-rod). It’s fine to continue to boo those players when they return to their home stadia, but if they are hurt (like A-rod was on July 24) all prior angst is to be put aside and that player should be applauded upon his exit from the game. Booing is not necessarily a negative part of the game (“they don’t boo nobodys”), but there are absolutely times to bury the hatchet and come together for the greater good of the game.
I am going to agree with you but, only because you used the proper plural form of stadium and because you used one of my favorite quotes. But, generally, I am opposed to booing players that leave for more money.
Do you think the fans would have booed if he would have shared his extensive japanese imported porn collection as a giveaway one night? My guess is no. The player needs to know his market better to mitigate those factors. Also, you left No 5 off your list – its ok to boo your own player if he publishes a photo of himself kissing his reflection in the mirror.
It’s always ok to boo A-Rod. It just isn’t that fun anymore.