With each strikeout with men on base, they shower down from the stands.
BOO! BOOOOOOO!
David Ortiz has been getting his share of boos from the fans at Fenway Park this season after another disastrous beginning to the year.
It’s disheartening to see a former Red Sox hero treated in this manner, and I really don’t understand what is accomplished by humiliating Ortiz in this manner. In my opinion, really the only reason for booing a home town player is because of lack of effort, or something that was said or done by that player that would be offensive to the fans.
What has Ortiz done to be treated in this manner? Clearly he is reaching the end of the line. It is somewhat reminiscent of the final season of Jim Rice, who was a double-play machine that season and a shell of his former self. Rice heard some boos, and we know it wounded him, after all he had done for the team.
Rice however, was never a hero on two World Series winning teams, as Ortiz was. Big Papi has done so much for the Red Sox, for the city of Boston, that he should never be booed. That doesn’t mean that you can’t think that he’s done, and that he should be taken out of the lineup, or even released altogether. It just means that he deserves a little respect. He doesn’t deserve to be humiliated as if he was Mike Lansing or Carl Everett.
Some give other reasons for booing Ortiz, they cite the positive test for a banned substance that was revealed last summer by The New York Times, and say that it is clear evidence that the Ortiz, who was a pedestrian hitter in Minnesota and became a star here after hooking up with Manny Ramirez, who was also caught in a substance scandal last year, implying that he must’ve been using something all along, and stopped, and that is why he’s struggling now.
I call hypocrite on that one. If you really believe this to be true, and have felt this way all along, have you been booing him all along, or just now when he’s struggling? Were you cheering when he was hitting homers and driving in runs, but now that he’s one the decline, it’s time to let into him and boo heartily every time he fails? That’s hypocritical.
Others claim that booing is the only way you can let Ortiz know of your displeasure with his performance. Really? Do you think that booing and yelling expletives at him will make a difference? Don’t you think that Ortiz is just as displeased with his performance as you are? Or do you think he just doesn’t care, and that booing is somehow going to get to him and wake him up and snap him out of it?
This issue is going to come to a head pretty quickly. Ortiz is either going to start hitting, or he’s going to be on the bench, or even released. Both he and the Red Sox are keenly aware that the team cannot afford to get no production out of the DH spot this season. Something will happen.
Your booing isn’t going to make a lick of difference. Show some respect, or perhaps even try and encourage the guy, as many do try before the boos drown them out.
