02 Aug '08 21:28>
Originally posted by whodeyI'm sorry, booing a player off the field due to injury is something that I can never understand. People deriving pleasure out of another's misfortune is about as low as it can get. I lose respect for people who a.) treat others in this manner or b.) support/excuse this sort of behavior. I don't care how much you pay a person, cheering him when he gets injured is rude and inexcusable.
Perhaps you can understand the viewpoints of the fans once I explain a few things to you.
As it has been stated earlier, KGJ was viewed as the "Messiah" of this team. In addition, he cost so much it was near impossible to build a decent team around him. If you then add to the fact that he became injured consistently and repeatidly throughout the year, th ...[text shortened]... they would ride the "Griffey train" in order to appease the fans instead of trying to win?
I understand perfectly well that Cincy is a small market, making it tough to have several big-money contracts on the roster at once. IMO it is the GM who the fans should be booing and not KGJ. It was their stupidity in taking up his contract in the first place and not looking to the future to build around him. Nobody forced them to pick him up. Taking out frustrations on KGJ when he gets injured is misplaced, and a player can only take so much before he starts to feel rather unappreciated. One player cannot rebuild a franchise. Any WS contending team has a whole bunch of decent to above average to star players. You need a lot of young talent with veteran leadership. You do not get this from one player alone, and he has never been surrounded with talent.
Maybe Cincy should look to Minneapolis on how to keep an above-average team moderately successful over the years on a small budget. Johann Santana leaves for more money? No problem. Torii Hunter leaves for more money? No problem. Their farm system is strong enough and their GM makes wise enough decisions they can let big-ticket players go and still have enough talent left over to make a post-season run. The Reds need to think twice before doing something that stupid again.
np