Idiots Trying to Take Over; Sad State of Sportmanship Growing in Fan Behavior

I am not trying to conjure up stories passed down from generations ago, but do you remember the days when fans were passionate not just about the team they followed, but also the game itself? The whole package needs to be addressed at some point; I am mostly concerned with sportsmanship, respect for coaches and officials, as well as respect for other fans that happen to be within earshot.
The topic is much too large to be discussed in one writing here, but let’s take a look at parts of it. There were two different incidents that I witnessed within a week’s time that really caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand at attention in regard to sportsmanship and fan behavior.

The first incident was last Tuesday at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim, CA. The “Mid-Summer Classic”, as it is known, began in 1933. The game brings together the “best of the best.” Through the many years there have been different means by which players were selected for the prestigious honor. All-Stars have been picked by the fans, the coaches, the players, or some combination thereof.

One of the great traditions to open the All-Star Game is the introduction of the respective rosters—first the non-starters for both the American and National League teams, followed by the starting lineups and coaches for each. With the game being hosted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim there was a natural home field American League partisanship in attendance. Second to that was a Southern California bias for teams in the general neighborhood; aside from the Angels, there was a swell of applause heard for LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres players.

What stood out more than the natural and very much expected roar of support for the above teams was the incredible cast of loud boos for the Angels east coast competitors from New York and Boston, and to a lesser degree the Dodgers rival to the north, the SF Giants. The players from those teams who were the targets and victims of such poor sportsmanship don’t deserve treatment like that, yet it is commonly accepted today as a normal means of behavior at a ballgame.

Don’t get me wrong, if an opposing player does something to or against my team that is classless, against the rules, or perceived to be bad sportsmanship I say let the boos rip…in fact, that goes for my team’s players, too. But, to shower All-Stars visiting your stadium just because their team may have beaten yours in recent years play-offs? Grow up. A strange twist on this is the fact that All-Star games now reward the winning team and league with home field advantage for the World Series. So, in effect, the Angels fans were booing their own “home team” members when they were booing the Yankees and Red Sox. Nice job folks. No wonder the AL lost to the NL for the first time since 1997. Congratulations.

I find it amazing that parents who watch their children play various organized youth sports—i.e. baseball, soccer, basketball to name a few—stand, applaud and smile as both youth teams perform the choreographed and mandatory lineup to exchange a shake of hands with the opponent at game’s end. These are the same people yelling profanity and booing with their kids alongside at the college and pro games. Maybe the kids can help straighten out the parents.
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The second incident that gave me a World Wrestling Federation kick to the solar plexus was just last night when the Chicago Cubs were hosting the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball.

The Cubs are struggling through another long season. They are 9.5 games out of first and playing just .452 baseball with a 42-51 mark. They were about to close out a win over the Phillies in the eighth inning when the Phils’ all-star first baseman, and one of top power hitters in the NL, Ryne Howard, lifted a home run into the left-centerfield bleachers. The ESPN cameras tracked the flight of the ball and showed it landing among a group of fans that included a younger middle-aged father and two cute sons, probably between 5-7 years of age, each of whom had their baseball gloves ready for such a lucky opportunity.

It was not clear if one of the youngsters actually caught the ball, but one of them did come up with the ball soon after it splashed down in the crowd. What happened next makes no sense and it is on par with the idiots in the above story.

For reasons that are foreign to me, though I am willing to listen to any sensible, well-grounded individual try to explain it, the youngster was enthusiastically prodded by the throng of Cubs’ fans near him to throw the ball back onto the field of play. As fans were cheering and wildly waving their arms, acting out the verbal message of “throw the ball back”, the little guy eventually fired it back onto the green lawn of the outfield which then sent the bleacher bums into ecstasy. Yes! We persuaded the 5 year old!

Now tell me, isn’t it most fans’ dream to come away from a major league baseball game with a legitimate souvenir? Foul balls are okay, but a home run ball is something special! If not, why is it that there are dozens of kids and young adults who patrol Sheffield and Waveland Avenues outside of Wrigley Field during games just for a chance to chase down a home run ball? Let me get this right, just because the home run was not hit by a Cub we are going to exhort this little kid to throw the ball back, basically saying—“Take that Ryne Howard; we don’t want your stinking home run.”

If that is me and my son there is no way that ball is going anywhere but home to be secured for special exhibitions, like a show and tell for the kid at school. In this case Ryne Howard is well on his way to a terrific career. He just signed the largest contract for a NL player and it is not inconceivable that he could continue to chart a path to the Hall of Fame.

This ridiculous idea of pressuring fans who, through luck or skill, come up with a major league home run to turn around the throw back onto the field is senseless. Did you ever see any old clips of anyone throwing home runs from Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle back from the bleachers? Absolutely not.

For the poor kid, and even for the father of that youngster who jumped on the band-wagon and endorsed his son’s move, it will be a shame sometime later in life when there is a conversation about the great Ryne Howard of the Phillies. Then they can have an awkward exchange like this, “Oh, yea, we got one of his home runs at Wrigley Field. Really? You have a Ryne Howard home run ball? Well, not exactly; we did have it …but I threw it back. Hey, Dad, why did we throw that ball back?”

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UGLY LATE JUNE CAUSES TB RAYS TO SLIDE TO THIRD IN AL EAST

The Tampa Bay Rays were the darlings of baseball for the first two-plus months of the season as they sported the best record in the game. With their thrifty $70 million payroll they were leading the charge for underdogs and little guys everywhere, fighting the battle to take down took the hated, ugly powers in the Northeast, the Yankees and Red Sox.  Make no mistake about it, the Rays are a talented team, deep in starting pitching, very solid defensively, but their offense has unexpectedly taken the last half of June off, thus causing a swoon.
Back in April the Rays were ringing up runs like a pin-ball machine.  In the last two weeks of that month they posted a sparkling 10-2 record, scored 10 or more runs 4 times, and averaged a beefy 7.75 runs in that span of a dozen games.  June is coming to a close, and for the Rays, they look forward to turning the calendar to July because since June 13 Tampa Bay is 4-9.  What's worse is that in just 13 games they scored one or no runs in six of those contests.  In another, they mustered two scores.  So, two or less runs in seven of the last 13 games...whew! 

Adding salt to the wound, a Rays' pitching cast-off, Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, came back to Tropicana field to throw a complete game no-hitter/shutout against his old teammates--he did this while issuing eight walks!  How do you not score when someone puts eight of your batters on base for free?

Barring any serious injuries the Rays should still be in the hunt all the way through September.  The marathon season has a lot of highs and lows, and it's so long that there is still plenty of time for things to change.  Remember when people were writing off the Red Sox because of their horrible April and early May?  Guess who is just 1.5 games off the pace of the Yankees now?  David Ortiz struggling, washed up?  Not any more.

It's been argued that the American League East has the three best teams in baseball.  A week or so ago the records supported that opinion.  So, we won't be too quick to judge who is in it for good, or out of it for good, until about early September.  But those two week benders that often haunt even the best teams is sure hard on the loyal fans, and it seems like all teams go through it.