seriously
So Tino returns to Busch Stadium, back into the bosom of the best fans in baseball, and he is booed roundly. None of the smattering of boos that Edgar got, no sir, these were heartfelt and thunderous boos that were completely out of character for St. Louis fans who by tradition honor all who have worn the birds-on-bat. Frankly, and let me be blunt, it was one of the few times I was embarrassed by the behavior of Cardinal fans.
Tino Martinez wasn't a bad guy. He tried hard. He did some very positive things while he was here. There were rumors - never substantiated - that he was a "clubhouse cancer", but as the years pass the supporting facts for those rumors erode. He didn't take steroids. He didn't drown puppies, and for all intents and purposes he was an upright guy. He just didn't hit the ball as he was expected to. For this great transgression, he seems to have earned the unleavened fury of Cardinal fans.
Perhaps there are deep and profound sociological reasons that would cause these fans to be so angry with Tino, but that profundity is lost on me. As far as I can determine, Tino Martinez gave it the old Harvard try during his two years here, and is despised for it.
He, as are Walt Jocketty and Tony LaRussa and you and me, are human. We make mistakes. Sometimes we excel. Sometimes we don't. If we were perfect there would be no sports. Albert Pujols - no, Scott Seabol - would be batting 1.000 with 200 rbi's by the all-star break. All of our pitchers would be 12-0 with 0.00 ERA's. There would be no mystery, no excitement, no wonder to the game in which we regularly celebrate 3 in 10 performances.
If people want to boo, I guess it is their right, but I wish they would save it for those who have truly earned such a massive show of disrespect. I'll be the first to boo knuckleheads like Carlos Zambrano . I don't think much of Dusty Baker. If I were a Cub fan, I would have booed Sammy Sosa out of the Midwest when he left Wrigley Field prior to the start of the last game of the 2004 forlorn hope on the northside. Conversely, Tino Martinez has done nothing, and let me repeat the word "nothing", to earn the enmity of the best fans in baseball.
To quote from Warren Oates in the movie Stripes, "Lighten up, Francis." Tino isn't even close to the worst thing that happened to the St. Louis Cardinals , and he certainly doesn't deserve to be booed. I hope cooler heads will prevail for the remaining two games of the series and Tino is able to leave St. Louis with a least a modicum of the respect he might otherwise have had for us. [rex duncan]
Labels: birds on bat
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4 Comments:
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Perhaps you forgot that Tino was responsible for the Cards not making the World Series in 2003.
By
, at 6:47 PM
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rex, the reason for the rumors has a name, and it is Bernie "King of the Assholes" Miklasz. Do NOT get me started. If Cards fans (or the segment at that game, anyway) is so fucking ignorant and stupid as to believe that Tino purposely played badly or something, they didn't fucking deserve him. I mean, not even JD Drew got that kind of reception. Please.
By
June, at 12:32 AM
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^ obviously i meant ARE, not IS
By June, at 12:33 AM
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I love the Cardinals...I do NOT love the self proclaimed "best fans in baseball."
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I have traveled to many cities and NEVER did I have to spend the night in an emergency room.... that is until I went to ST Louis.
Mid-western people are supposed to be nice, respectful...KISS MY ASS. 6 hours in the hospital because someone decided to slip a drug into a drink is not my definition of NICE.
Busch Stadium is pretty though, I kind of hate to see it go. dani, at 9:01 AM
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