Yes, that’s right. I did it, with some help from the other fans BOOOOOOing him last season and early this season.
He wasn’t performing as well as he was capable of, and that’s the message we were sending him as we went “Booooo! Boooooooo! Hey. Carlos! You suck! Yeah, you, molehead! Donkey dong, that what you suck! Yeah, Boo, boo, boo!!! Boooooooooooooooooo!” more or less endlessly whenever he appeared at Shea Stadium.
Sure, people told me “That isn’t going to help him play better,” but you know what? Those people suck, too, because it obviously has made him play better. LOTS better!
Now if he’d had another suckass year, I guess those people would have an argument that booing him didn’'t make him into a better ballplayer, but given the monster year he’s having, I proclaim that the booing worked, and I want some credit for doing it in the face of adversity and criticism.
I feel so proud. I never influenced a pennant race before.
Huh… back in 1978, we Yankee fans had the same effect on Ron Guidry by clapping for him. Go figure.
I always say, if a player always attributes winning the Big Game to God, then they should similarly curse God for the Big Games that they lose. Alternatively, if a star player is always heard to be “thanking the Lord” for his victories, if you beat him, you should be sure to thank Satan.
Like when the Red Sox came back from the ultimate elimination threshold in 2004… Mariano Rivera’s always up there thanking Jesus, why didn’t Curt Schilling go up and say, “All right, God finally gave Mo Rivera a smiting, who’s Our Father’s favorite now?”, or “Way to go Beelzebub, that’ll show those Johnny Churchgoers whose path is the right one”?
I haven’t checked the standings in a while, but now I don’t even have to bother! The Phillies must be, what, 127-0 right now?
Actually, most Mets fans think those who booed Beltran in April are basically ignorant fools.
Last year was one thing (though Beltran was playing injured), but the booing in the early part of this season was the type of things a Yankee fan would do*.
*Ultimate insult.
So booing a guy makes him win awards. Must explain how Jason Marquis was leading the NL in wins despite having an ERA somewhere around 34.
I don’t see how you could suggest that I’m an ignorant fool for booing Beltran. I was told, by several of your wiser Mets fans, that booing him would prevent him from having a good season, that it would depress him, anger him, upset him, etc. none of which are conducive to playing well, and when I claimed that it would instead motivate him to playing to the best of his abilities, I was told no decent Mets fan would boo him.
So now that I’ve been shown to have been correct, and you’ve been shown to have been wrong, now that the booing has resulted in his best season ever, this is the gratitude you show me? Calling me ignorant?
What would you have said if after the inital booing, he would have had a worse year? I think you might have blamed that year on the boo-ers, yes? Of course you would have. So why not give credit where credit is due?
In fairness, I should probably bring up the poor guy who I heckled back to the minors where he’s remained. 2004 Arizona was injury riddled and brought up a bunch of minor leaguers. Went to a game at PacBell and sat in the left field bleachers. My friend wanted to heckle Barry Bonds, but to ensure that we didn’t get our asses kicked I encouraged him to turn on the rookie Diamondback outfielder, Josh Kroeger, instead. It was helped by the fact that guy was batting .1something.
Whatever the reason, Kroeger ended up playing the last two innings in right field. We took credit in our heads. Poor Kroeger never did get above the Mendoza line the rest of the season in Arizona. I’ve been watching him since…he spent 2005 at playing AAA ball in Tucson and this year had a lousy year playing for the Phillies’ AAA club in Scranton (.225 BA).
Sorry about that Josh…
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Ya think, Thucydides?
Do you really mean to say that those jerkwad Mets fans who were begging me not to boo Beltran early in the season because we would cause him to have a bad season had no notion of cause and effect? Do you really mean to tell me these self-righteous asswipes were just imposing their own sense of propriety on me instead of what they claimed, that I was causing Beltran’s inevitable bad year and that I would wreck the Mets’ chances this year? Well, I swan.
Booing sure seems to be doing the trick with Alex Rodriguez, he’s snapped right back into last year’s MVP form. (1 for 5, 3 strike outs last night)
Do booers actually think the player doesn’t realize he’s performing poorly? As if the player would be happy and satisfied with his batting slump if you didn’t ridicule him. Most of these players didn’t make it to the majors by being lazy schlubs like the rest of us. They’re hyper competitive workaholics and demand more from themselves than we can possibly demand of them.
If you have evidence that the player isn’t putting in the effort to improve his performance, then go ahead and boo. But a guy who’s just flat out having a slump should get your support.
Huh, I knew there was reason the umpiring is so much sharper in New York and Philadelphia than in San Diego. It’s all the encouragement they receive.
I think the best plan for a player is to have a name with a long U sound in it, like Mookie Wilson or Kevin Youkilis, so that being booed and being cheered kind of sounds the same. Win-win. Although there’s no defense against sarcastic clapping. Sarcastic clapping will get you every time.
At rock concerts, I like to boo the keyboard player. Fucker.