Albert Pujols and the anatomy of a "boo"
Ben Godar
Albert Pujols wants us to stop booing Juan Encarnacion, and that’s got me thinking about what the role of a true fan should be when it comes to the Bronx cheer.
MLB.com’s excellent Cardinals reporter, Matthew Leach, reported Pujols’ comments – basically saying he was mad with fans for booing Encarnacion, who is working hard but frustrated. The crux of Pujols argument seems to be that Encarnacion knows he’s struggling, and booing him won’t help him turn it around.
The declaration from H.H. Albert Pujols has touched off a fierce debate among Cardinals fans, but the question is relevant to any follower of The Game.
Booing the home team is generally a classless move born of ignorance. It often comes from fair-weather fans who don’t know a sac bunt from their camera phone. Or it comes from Neanderthals in places like Philadelphia, who take great pride in booing Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, Firefighters and anybody else who has the audacity to step before them.
That said, I don’t buy into this notion that we should never boo the home team. I’m sure booing Juan Encarnacion won’t help him, but blindly supporting even the ineptness of your team is the kind of thing that creates the Chicago Cubs.
Juan Encarnacion has done nothing to warrant my respect. Some argue I owe him my allegiance simply because he wears a Cardinals uniform. But I’ve never bought into that blind Patriotism, "either you’re with us or against us" mentality.
I would never boo Jim Edmonds, even though I’ve watched him strike out with runners on base at least 10,000 times. Why? Because I’ve also watched Jim Edmonds bust his ass for the team and come up with at least as many clutch hits. And shame on the people booing Jason Isringhausen, another veteran who’s shown us he will walk at least two batters but still get the save.
Juan Encarnacion is another story. It wouldn’t be fair to boo just because he’s off to a slow start, but the man is playing bad baseball. Really bad. Pujols only won Sunday’s game with that walk-off homer because Encarnacion gave the Reds the lead by duffing an easy fly ball. A few games before that, he was doubled off first base on a lazy fly to left field. The game before, he was almost doubled off when he inexplicably went halfway to second on a short fly to RIGHT FIELD!
Had I been there when Encarnacion was doubled off first, I would have booed. In fact, I would have asked him where his head was, suggested a location I suspected it was, and asked him to remove it from said place.
If Encarnacion comes around, I’ll be cheering him on – and that does not make me a fair-weather fan. It just makes me a fan who holds even my own team to a certain standard. I’m a Cardinals fan because I like to watch good baseball. It’s the job of the fan to encourage good baseball. We supported this team long before these players arrived, and we will be supporting it long after they are gone. It’s our job to call a bum a bum.
Albert Pujols wants us to stop booing Juan Encarnacion, and that’s got me thinking about what the role of a true fan should be when it comes to the Bronx cheer.
MLB.com’s excellent Cardinals reporter, Matthew Leach, reported Pujols’ comments – basically saying he was mad with fans for booing Encarnacion, who is working hard but frustrated. The crux of Pujols argument seems to be that Encarnacion knows he’s struggling, and booing him won’t help him turn it around.
The declaration from H.H. Albert Pujols has touched off a fierce debate among Cardinals fans, but the question is relevant to any follower of The Game.
Booing the home team is generally a classless move born of ignorance. It often comes from fair-weather fans who don’t know a sac bunt from their camera phone. Or it comes from Neanderthals in places like Philadelphia, who take great pride in booing Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, Firefighters and anybody else who has the audacity to step before them.
That said, I don’t buy into this notion that we should never boo the home team. I’m sure booing Juan Encarnacion won’t help him, but blindly supporting even the ineptness of your team is the kind of thing that creates the Chicago Cubs.
Juan Encarnacion has done nothing to warrant my respect. Some argue I owe him my allegiance simply because he wears a Cardinals uniform. But I’ve never bought into that blind Patriotism, "either you’re with us or against us" mentality.
I would never boo Jim Edmonds, even though I’ve watched him strike out with runners on base at least 10,000 times. Why? Because I’ve also watched Jim Edmonds bust his ass for the team and come up with at least as many clutch hits. And shame on the people booing Jason Isringhausen, another veteran who’s shown us he will walk at least two batters but still get the save.
Juan Encarnacion is another story. It wouldn’t be fair to boo just because he’s off to a slow start, but the man is playing bad baseball. Really bad. Pujols only won Sunday’s game with that walk-off homer because Encarnacion gave the Reds the lead by duffing an easy fly ball. A few games before that, he was doubled off first base on a lazy fly to left field. The game before, he was almost doubled off when he inexplicably went halfway to second on a short fly to RIGHT FIELD!
Had I been there when Encarnacion was doubled off first, I would have booed. In fact, I would have asked him where his head was, suggested a location I suspected it was, and asked him to remove it from said place.
If Encarnacion comes around, I’ll be cheering him on – and that does not make me a fair-weather fan. It just makes me a fan who holds even my own team to a certain standard. I’m a Cardinals fan because I like to watch good baseball. It’s the job of the fan to encourage good baseball. We supported this team long before these players arrived, and we will be supporting it long after they are gone. It’s our job to call a bum a bum.
posted by Ben Godar at 11:05 AM
1 Comments:
I agree that the "smartest fans in baseball" moniker has become a blessing and a curse. I think it was coined to reflect a generally high interest/intellect among Cards fans, but when fans are saying "we should do X because we're the smartest fans..." it's just ridiculous.
But that won't stop Jon Miller from saying it every f***ing time he mentions the Cardinals. I'm a Cardinals fan and I'm sick of it.
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