Boo Boo... Boom

The Backstop Back At Ya:  I have been of the opinion that there are very few reasons to be a fan of a team and then 'boo' them when they underperform.  Well, in last night's game I saw an exception.  When David Wright struck out in a key spot, the fans, for the first time in my memory, let him hear it.  I remember thinking, "why do people do that?" then, "why do people pay money to do that?"  I have always thought playing in New York alone is more pressure than any athlete should have to absorb.  Playing for fans that have had their hearts ripped out and thrown over the plate for a called strike three for three years running...well lets just say that has to be hard.  Playing for a team that, to the rest of the world, is the illegitimate step-brother of team 26 across town does not make it any easier.  I also think of the players that we had escorted out of town and I just don't think it is right. *Say what you will about Aaron Heilman, he always took the ball...hurt, healthy, strong, weak, moody, happy, sad, or universally indifferent...he always took the ball. And if he failed, he was the first person to meet the reporters after the game.  He made no excuses and from what I have heard, he had a few at his disposal.  He would simply say that he let the team down.  I have heard from multiple sources that he was hurt all season last year.  And no, none of those sources were any of the New York "Make it up as you go" tabloids.  I have not seen the latest updates, but the last I heard, Heilman was pitching well in Chicago.  I don't think he has given up an unearned run yet.

Okay now that I got that speech out of the way, I saw something last night that fascinated me.  In the inning that followed Wright's strikeout, he made a play in the field that would have made Brooks Robinson nod his head two, even three times.  In his next at bat, he parked the ball to right field, that from most of the broadcasters I have heard, would have been over the fence at Shea.  As it were, he was robbed of an extra base hit by a spectacular play by Austin Kearns.  Tip your cap.

He hit the ball hard three times since then.  It was after the Saturday game that it occurred to me...they might have kissed him off just enough to wake him from the baseball daydream he seems to have been in since the season began.  I condone the 'boos' just this one time.  He has not turned it around yet.  His numbers say nothing of his meaningful production thus far.  Lets check back in a week or so and see if that was not where he turned the corner.  The team is still double bogie when it comes to timely hitting.   Two wins in a row.  Lets get back to this one.

Yours Behind the Plate and Dirty,

The Backstop