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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Gotta love your team, for better or worse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Braves showed their knack for turning games into one-run losses again last night. With the Bravos headed into the ninth down 5-3, I was thinking, At least it’s not another one-run heartbreaker. Then Brian McCann’s double drove in Mark Kotsay to make it 5-4, and that thought became, Oh no, not again. You just knew it was going to end there, giving them 11 losses in 12 one-run games.
Despite that, there was a bright spot: After the game, everyone was raving about Jo-Jo Reyes, even though he gave up five earned runs on 11 hits in 6-2/3 innings. He threw 27 first-pitch strikes to the 32 batters he faced, 74 strikes out 105 pitches overall without a walk.
It’s strange to say a five-run, 11-hit outing was a solid one, but there you have it. According to Chipper Jones, “Jo-Jo pitched a really good game. He just got dinked and doinked to death.”
The warm reception in clubhouse isn’t surprising — players usually support their teammates — but sometimes the fans’ reactions can be a different story. Consider the rude treatment former Brave Andruw Jones gets at Dodgers Stadium, where even his Mother’s Day message on the video board was booed.
L.A. fans have been voicing their frustration with Andruw’s .170 average and single, solitary home run loudly and without reservation. The Braves former center fielder told the AP he’d never heard such a negative reaction.
I think that’s something Braves fans can be proud of: Unlike Yankees fans, Mets fans, Dodgers fans, Phillies fans, etc., we don’t rail on our guys one minute and then embrace them and expect them to love us back the next (at least not en masse out in public).
Earlier this year, Mets fans, who had booed Carlos Delgado mercilessly during an extended slump, wanted a curtain call after a big home run, and many were surprised when he refused. Can’t say that I blame him.
I understand these guys get paid well and are expected to earn that money and that people have a right to express themselves. But the players are human, they’re going to have tough stretches. As a fan, if you want to really enjoy the good times with your team, you have to endure the bad along with them, too. The Braves fans who’ve followed this team more than, say, 17 years get that.
What do you think about players being booed for bad performances? Does it annoy you when fans boo and curse their own players one minute and then cheer for them the next if they produce, or is that just part of the game?
If the Braves had played as badly at home as they have on the road, do you think they’d be booed by their fans?
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