Being the baseball junkie that I am, if there is baseball on television, I am going to watch it. I could be happy watching a Pirates/Nationals game as I am watching a Yankees/Angels game.
With that being said, about two weeks ago it was a sexy ass Friday night and I found myself face to face with some Diamondbacks/Rockies action.
With that being said, about two weeks ago it was a sexy ass Friday night and I found myself face to face with some Diamondbacks/Rockies action.
Being that I am growing to despise the D'backs, I was looking for something to bitch about and I found it. They kept panning through the crowd, and all I kept seeing were middle-aged men rooting for the Diamondbacks as if they had been fans their whole lives.
And therein lies the problem. They haven't been Diamondbacks fans all of their lives because they Diamondbacks have only been around since 1998.
That means there are only two options here: 1) These guys (and gals) are not true baseball fans and only started rooting for the team because it was the cool thing to do, or 2) They are awful, evil fair-weather fans that used to have a favorite team but decided to jump ship when the new show came to town. If the latter is the case, you weren't a true fan anyway.
If you are over the age of 25 years old, and are any kind of baseball fan, you have no excuse to say the Diamondbacks are your favorite team. The reason for 25 years of age being the cut off: you were 15 or under when the team came to city and maybe you were still impressionable. That's forgiven.
After the age of 16, you should have figured out who your allegiance will be with for the rest of your life. You deserve to suffer as much as any other fan and you have no right to go whatever way the wind blows.
When I see these 45-year olds at Arizona games with their Blackberry's out, or when I see the 30-year old fan that simply resembles me, and they are cheering their heart out for the Diamondbacks in crucial moments, I want to jump through the television and punch them in the dong. They make me furious.
There is a possibility that they are just baseball fans and they are at the game, which is a solid point considering I go to A's games even though they aren't my team.
Chances are fewer fans are like me and most fans are like the geeks in Arizona that seem to exist just to make me mad. They cheer at the top of their lungs each time the pitcher throws a strike. Baseball fans like me celebrate when our team scores, a pitcher gets out of a jam, a runner steals a base or a guy makes a tremendous play in the field.
People that don't get baseball cheer routine pop flies are 2-0 pitches that pour over for strikes.
With that said, you have can't be over the age of 25 to be a Rays fan either, and you can't be over the age of 30 and be a Marlins or a Rockies fan considering they came into the league in 1993.
Go support your home team, that's fine, but at the end of the day, your flag better be flying with the ship you boarded a long time ago or else I will make you walk the plank.
When and when not to boo: Two of the finest centerfielders of our generation, Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones, both recently made the move to Southern California after spending over a decade with teams that they gave everything for.
Hunter spent 10 years and played in 11 seasons for the Twins. He gave everything he could on the field and became the face of the franchise while winning seven gold gloves and hitting 192 home runs.
Jones, who wasn't as endeared to the Braves fans as Hunter was to Minnesota fans (it's hard to be more popular in any area than Hunter was in the Twin Cities) but he was definitely beloved, and why not? Jones also played hard for 12 seasons in Atlanta, winning 10 straight gold gloves and smacking 368 home runs.
These players left, not on bad terms, but with the teams they grew to love simply telling them they can't afford to re-sign them. Both partings were more than amicable because other teams offered contracts that wouldn't just take care of you for life, but your children and your children's children. Nobody, I mean nobody, passes up that kind of opportunity.
With no bad blood between them and the organization, both players found new homes, and both have gone back to their previous home already this season.
Hunter opened the season in Minnesota and Jones played in Atlanta last weekend and much to my dismay, both of them received some boos.
There were a lot of cheers, many more cheers than boos, but the boos were definitely audible and it left me wondering how anyone can do that to a guy that gave his heart and soul to the fans for over a decade and left on good terms.
I can see booing J.D. Drew in Philadelphia (and Los Angeles) for the rest of his life because he did Philly very wrong and didn't leave on good terms in L.A. Drew has been selfish throughout his career and deserves it.
If I were a Giants fan, I could see booing Jason Schmidt (if he ever pitches) because he left for the enemy. A guy like Adrian Beltre should be booed because he left his former team, a team that stuck by him for years, to go to Seattle even though the contract offers were extremely similar.
A guy like Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't booed upon his return to Seattle and neither should have Jones nor Hunter been upon their return.
Now if a guy gets traded, it depends on the circumstance, but if he didn't demand a trade or was a good player that the fans liked, he should never get booed.
Smoltz joins 3000 K club: With a strikeout of Washington's Felipe Lopez in the 3rd inning of Tuesday night's game, John Smoltz became the 16th member of the 3,000 strikeout club.
He is one of six active (active meaning not retired) pitchers who have 3,000 K's, joining Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.
Smoltz has the chance to move past Martinez and possibly Schilling, who are both active players but injured.
He could pass Bob Gibson sometime this summer and could even pass Ferguson Jenkins if he has a big enough season. Smoltz could end up 12th on the all-time list by the time the season ends, but he would have to stay health, which is a concern with his age and his shoulder.
And therein lies the problem. They haven't been Diamondbacks fans all of their lives because they Diamondbacks have only been around since 1998.
That means there are only two options here: 1) These guys (and gals) are not true baseball fans and only started rooting for the team because it was the cool thing to do, or 2) They are awful, evil fair-weather fans that used to have a favorite team but decided to jump ship when the new show came to town. If the latter is the case, you weren't a true fan anyway.
If you are over the age of 25 years old, and are any kind of baseball fan, you have no excuse to say the Diamondbacks are your favorite team. The reason for 25 years of age being the cut off: you were 15 or under when the team came to city and maybe you were still impressionable. That's forgiven.
After the age of 16, you should have figured out who your allegiance will be with for the rest of your life. You deserve to suffer as much as any other fan and you have no right to go whatever way the wind blows.
When I see these 45-year olds at Arizona games with their Blackberry's out, or when I see the 30-year old fan that simply resembles me, and they are cheering their heart out for the Diamondbacks in crucial moments, I want to jump through the television and punch them in the dong. They make me furious.
There is a possibility that they are just baseball fans and they are at the game, which is a solid point considering I go to A's games even though they aren't my team.
Chances are fewer fans are like me and most fans are like the geeks in Arizona that seem to exist just to make me mad. They cheer at the top of their lungs each time the pitcher throws a strike. Baseball fans like me celebrate when our team scores, a pitcher gets out of a jam, a runner steals a base or a guy makes a tremendous play in the field.
People that don't get baseball cheer routine pop flies are 2-0 pitches that pour over for strikes.
With that said, you have can't be over the age of 25 to be a Rays fan either, and you can't be over the age of 30 and be a Marlins or a Rockies fan considering they came into the league in 1993.
Go support your home team, that's fine, but at the end of the day, your flag better be flying with the ship you boarded a long time ago or else I will make you walk the plank.
When and when not to boo: Two of the finest centerfielders of our generation, Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones, both recently made the move to Southern California after spending over a decade with teams that they gave everything for.
Hunter spent 10 years and played in 11 seasons for the Twins. He gave everything he could on the field and became the face of the franchise while winning seven gold gloves and hitting 192 home runs.
Jones, who wasn't as endeared to the Braves fans as Hunter was to Minnesota fans (it's hard to be more popular in any area than Hunter was in the Twin Cities) but he was definitely beloved, and why not? Jones also played hard for 12 seasons in Atlanta, winning 10 straight gold gloves and smacking 368 home runs.
These players left, not on bad terms, but with the teams they grew to love simply telling them they can't afford to re-sign them. Both partings were more than amicable because other teams offered contracts that wouldn't just take care of you for life, but your children and your children's children. Nobody, I mean nobody, passes up that kind of opportunity.
With no bad blood between them and the organization, both players found new homes, and both have gone back to their previous home already this season.
Hunter opened the season in Minnesota and Jones played in Atlanta last weekend and much to my dismay, both of them received some boos.
There were a lot of cheers, many more cheers than boos, but the boos were definitely audible and it left me wondering how anyone can do that to a guy that gave his heart and soul to the fans for over a decade and left on good terms.
I can see booing J.D. Drew in Philadelphia (and Los Angeles) for the rest of his life because he did Philly very wrong and didn't leave on good terms in L.A. Drew has been selfish throughout his career and deserves it.
If I were a Giants fan, I could see booing Jason Schmidt (if he ever pitches) because he left for the enemy. A guy like Adrian Beltre should be booed because he left his former team, a team that stuck by him for years, to go to Seattle even though the contract offers were extremely similar.
A guy like Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't booed upon his return to Seattle and neither should have Jones nor Hunter been upon their return.
Now if a guy gets traded, it depends on the circumstance, but if he didn't demand a trade or was a good player that the fans liked, he should never get booed.
Smoltz joins 3000 K club: With a strikeout of Washington's Felipe Lopez in the 3rd inning of Tuesday night's game, John Smoltz became the 16th member of the 3,000 strikeout club.
He is one of six active (active meaning not retired) pitchers who have 3,000 K's, joining Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.
Smoltz has the chance to move past Martinez and possibly Schilling, who are both active players but injured.
He could pass Bob Gibson sometime this summer and could even pass Ferguson Jenkins if he has a big enough season. Smoltz could end up 12th on the all-time list by the time the season ends, but he would have to stay health, which is a concern with his age and his shoulder.
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