Easy on the Whipping Boy

 

Optimism - A certain amount is healthy. But too much optimism can be a double-edged sword - especially for fans of Toronto sports teams. Too much optimism can lead to lofty expectations that just can't be reasonably met, and that often leads to some kind of back-lash. At the start of every Jays season we have big things to be excited about.  A promising new rookie, big off-season acquisitions, or bounce-back seasons expected from key players. But as the dog-days of summer wear on and things start to go sideways, we Blue Jay fans can be especially good at ascribing 'whipping-boy' and 'scape-goat' status to players we feel should shoulder the blame for organizational disappointment.  We've driven our fair-share of struggling players out of Toronto to choruses of boos. Frankly, I'm often embarrassed to be a Jays fan when alumni like Alex Rios return to Rogers center in another uniform and are greeted by disrespectful boos. 

At a QMJHL hockey game, I (and the other fans around us) heckled our defensemen for sloppy puck-handling on the power play. My father-in-law commented: "it's interesting how people who are losers in everyday life demand perfection from professional athletes, don't you think?" It might have been intended as a shot at me... but a fair comment nonetheless. Guilty as charged.  Why do we demand perfection from athletes and then dog them when they don't live up to our expectations? In the example of Alex Rios, it's not like he was purposely striking out. Did his contract contain a 'perfection' clause that he was failing to live up to? Did he really deserve to be run out of town like that? Does he deserve to be booed every time he comes back to Rogers Center?

If Rios was the only player that received that kind of treatment, maybe we could call it a one-off.  But what kind of treatment did fans give Eric Hinske? How about Vernon Wells? BJ Ryan? Juan Rivera? Mark Teahen? Coco Cordero? Frank Francisco? Jon Rauch? Lyle Overbay? Etc. Etc. I feel like the names just roll off my tongue too easily... there are so many whipping-boys.

I love the AJ Burnett example. Despite decent peripheral numbers, here's a player we dogged for most of his time in TO. Ricciardi probably made it worse by questioning Burnett’s willingness to pitch through normal wear-and-tear. But by the time his contract was up, we actually wanted this guy to stay and resign with the team. We're lucky, as fans, that he tipped his cap to us in his last appearance rather than giving us the finger. You can't blame him for not wanting to resign in Toronto.  Same with Aaron Hill. There's a fan favorite that we dogged while he was struggling, and we were obviously rooting for a trade. Then over in Arizona, he catches fire again, and we're asking for him to sign back through free agency? Maybe if his time here was more pleasant he would have thought about a return. I don't blame him if he crossed TO off his list of potential signing locations.

Maybe we should stop shooting ourselves in the foot as fans? Maybe guys like Burnett and Aaron Hill are more likely to return when we want them if we're nicer to them while they're here?

How about the case of E3 Edwin Encarnacion? 2 seasons ago we were ready to run him out of town. Now after 1 good season we're ready to give him the key to the city? We're probably lucky he was willing to sign that contract extension despite the catcalls while he was struggling.

There are other current players on the Jays team going through some dogging right now. How about Colby Rasmus? Or Adam Lind? Obviously fans are entitled to grumble when things aren't going our way. But I hope as the season wears on, we don't start flogging our own guys. 

There are huge expectations on this year’s squad. Fans are calling for a World Series win, and we're not even into spring training yet. Vegas odds have us with a 1 in 8 chance of winning the World Series. That’s great to be optimistic about, but chances are 7 in 8 we won't win it all. There are a ton of things that can go wrong, and the odds are that some players we're counting on will struggle. My hope for this summer, besides whipping the tar out of AL East opponents, is that Toronto fans display some proper sportsmanship and help make Toronto a fun place for players to play. We're trying to convince some big name free agents (now and in the future) that Toronto is a great place to play. Let's help them overlook the terrible turf and extra taxes by showing them that at least the fans are great.