Jimmy Rollins Comments

[kjfoster 1553]

From the Philly Inquirer:

 

Jimmy Rollins chatted with reporters before last night's game to discuss his comment that Phillies fans were "front-runners." He was asked whether players on other teams ask about the fans.

"We've had a lot of things said about fans here," Rollins said of questions and comments by opposing players. "Most of them you can't repeat. That's their opinion. They get to come from the outside and look in. I think a lot of players, they ask knowing their free-agent year is coming up. They try to get a feel for how the fans are. I think they have a good idea of how the team is. They like the team. They enjoy the team.

 

"A lot of times, and I've actually heard it, they don't want to put their family and kids in a situation where they come to the field and these are the types of things their kids are going to have to sit through and listen to. That's just the truth. Those aren't my words. Those are words that I've actually heard."

 

As he had predicted, Rollins heard some boos before he led off the bottom of the first. Comcast SportsNet viewers could not hear the crowd's reaction because the station was playing a taped interview with Rollins at the time.

 

Interesting things to say about your hometown fans. Way worse than Z saying we shouldn't boo him when he sucks.

 

It seems to be the farthest thing from how players view Wrigley fans after playing for the Cubs. I'm sure, though, that players like Jimmy Edmonds had a negative perception of Cubs fans prior to playing here.

[CubinNY]

Trade Theriot for him in the off-season. He's lovable.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I'd sure love to see Hendry sell high with Theriot this offseason, especially if he has a decent playoff showing. this lineup with Jimmy Rollins at SS next season would be even more delicious

[Cynosure]

He got booed for saying the truth?

[TruffleShuffle]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

[Cynosure]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

Well, it was nice getting tickets off of Ebay late in the season for under face value :)

 

Got 6 100 level tickets to the final game of the season for $140.

[Clem Fandango]

Front-runners? Is that supposed to be an insult?

 

I don't get it. Every time I hear that word I think of someone or some people who are, for all intents and purposes, at the top of whatever the topic is

[Banedon]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

[TruffleShuffle]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

 

you know as well as i do that a number or those tickets were sold well in advance. by september of that year, the real attendance wasn't exceeding 30,000, even if the paid attendance was above that mark.

[kjfoster 1553]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

 

you know as well as i do that a number or those tickets were sold well in advance. by september of that year, the real attendance wasn't exceeding 30,000, even if the paid attendance was above that mark.

 

But even approx. 30K people is better than a large portion of team draw on average this year.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

[Tracer Bullet]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

 

you know as well as i do that a number or those tickets were sold well in advance. by september of that year, the real attendance wasn't exceeding 30,000, even if the paid attendance was above that mark.

 

But even approx. 30K people is better than a large portion of team draw on average this year.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

 

There's no question that more fans go to Wrigley every year than most other teams. But that doesn't make Truffle's overall point wrong. You'd have to compare fans of a team that's winning to fans of that same team when it's losing. If there's a team that fills its stadium or even maintains an even attendance level, whether the team is winning or losing, that would disprove his point (to some extent).

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah, our game threads at the end of that season were like 3 pages long. people stopped caring about the cubs, for good reason. they did a terrible job of player development and acquisition, and the manager was a stubborn, incompetent fool who probably ruined the two most talented pitcher that have come into this organization in the past decade. i'll always follow the cubs, but if they're not going to do the things to put a good product on the field, then i'm not going to waste my time and money on them. there's a reason that i've bought cubs gear and paid for MLB.tv the last two years; it's because they've actually shown a commitment to doing things the right way.

[kjfoster 1553]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

 

you know as well as i do that a number or those tickets were sold well in advance. by september of that year, the real attendance wasn't exceeding 30,000, even if the paid attendance was above that mark.

 

But even approx. 30K people is better than a large portion of team draw on average this year.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

 

There's no question that more fans go to Wrigley every year than most other teams. But that doesn't make Truffle's overall point wrong. You'd have to compare fans of a team that's winning to fans of that same team when it's losing. If there's a team that fills its stadium or even maintains an even attendance level, whether the team is winning or losing, that would disprove his point (to some extent).

 

Agreed. But Cubs fans are def. not as "fairweathered" or "front runner" or whatever as, say the Phillies fans. Or the White Sox for that matter.

[CubinNY]

yeah, our game threads at the end of that season were like 3 pages long. people stopped caring about the cubs, for good reason. they did a terrible job of player development and acquisition, and the manager was a stubborn, incompetent fool who probably ruined the two most talented pitcher that have come into this organization in the past decade. i'll always follow the cubs, but if they're not going to do the things to put a good product on the field, then i'm not going to waste my time and money on them. there's a reason that i've bought cubs gear and paid for MLB.tv the last two years; it's because they've actually shown a commitment to doing things the right way.

I don't think that has much to do with Jimmy's comments. I think his have to do with the overall tone of the average Philly fan. They booed Santa Clause for crying out loud.

 

Anyway, he probably should just be quiet, take his money, and play ball.

 

(BTW> commas o.k.?)

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah, our game threads at the end of that season were like 3 pages long. people stopped caring about the cubs, for good reason. they did a terrible job of player development and acquisition, and the manager was a stubborn, incompetent fool who probably ruined the two most talented pitcher that have come into this organization in the past decade. i'll always follow the cubs, but if they're not going to do the things to put a good product on the field, then i'm not going to waste my time and money on them. there's a reason that i've bought cubs gear and paid for MLB.tv the last two years; it's because they've actually shown a commitment to doing things the right way.

I don't think that has much to do with Jimmy's comments. I think his have to do with the overall tone of the average Philly fan. They booed Santa Clause for crying out loud.

 

Anyway, he probably should just be quiet, take his money, and play ball.

 

(BTW> commas o.k.?)

 

they should boo "santa clause", it was a bad movie and the sequels, from what i hear, were even worse.

 

i'm from the philadelphia area and i can say that the fans there are very passionate and loyal to the local teams. they might loud, obnoxious and too passionate for their own good, but they're not frontrunners. when i think of a frontrunner, i think of a fan who latches onto any team that is good, regardless of geographical location. that really doesn't happen in philly.

[nilodnayr]

yeah, our game threads at the end of that season were like 3 pages long. people stopped caring about the cubs, for good reason. they did a terrible job of player development and acquisition, and the manager was a stubborn, incompetent fool who probably ruined the two most talented pitcher that have come into this organization in the past decade. i'll always follow the cubs, but if they're not going to do the things to put a good product on the field, then i'm not going to waste my time and money on them. there's a reason that i've bought cubs gear and paid for MLB.tv the last two years; it's because they've actually shown a commitment to doing things the right way.

I don't think that has much to do with Jimmy's comments. I think his have to do with the overall tone of the average Philly fan. They booed Santa Clause for crying out loud.

 

Anyway, he probably should just be quiet, take his money, and play ball.

 

(BTW> commas o.k.?)

 

they should boo "santa clause", it was a bad movie and the sequels, from what i hear, were even worse.

 

i'm from the philadelphia area and i can say that the fans there are very passionate and loyal to the local teams. they might loud, obnoxious and too passionate for their own good, but they're not frontrunners. when i think of a frontrunner, i think of a fan who latches onto any team that is good, regardless of geographical location. that really doesn't happen in philly.

 

Yeah, jimmy was probably about to say another F-word to describe the fans and decided to tone it down.

 

The booing Santa Claus, the throwing of batteries, the jail in the football stadium, the philly fans are a lot of things, but I wouldn't call them fairweather. The rest of his comments though are pretty accurate from what I've heard. Maybe they just seem fairweather because if you aren't doing well they'll jump all over you and be extremely abusive, which is basically what he said.

[17 Seconds]

I was just watching the Phillies game and Rollins kicked a ground ball to allow the go ahead run to score (it was a tough play though, I think they gave him a hit) and he was getting booed pretty bad. What he said about Philly fans is right, but he's an idiot for saying it...especially with the miserable season he's having.

[sneakypower]

i think it's a bit of a stretch to say he's had a 'miserable' season

[haltz]

i think it's a bit of a stretch to say he's had a 'miserable' season

It's a huge stretch.

[17 Seconds]

i think it's a bit of a stretch to say he's had a 'miserable' season

 

How is it a stretch? Following up an MVP season with a .261/.326/.421 season seems pretty bad to me.

[17 Seconds]

i think it's a bit of a stretch to say he's had a 'miserable' season

 

How is it a stretch? Following up an MVP season with a .261/.326/.421 season seems pretty bad to me.

[TruffleShuffle]

i think it's a bit of a stretch to say he's had a 'miserable' season

 

How is it a stretch? Following up an MVP season with a .261/.326/.421 season seems pretty bad to me.

 

it's a stretch because it's really not miserable at all. he's a little better than he's been this year and he's not as good as he was last year. his RARP is top 10 among shortstops and his EqA is at .271 this year after being at .273 in 2004, .269 in 2005 and .275 in 2006. which one looks like more of the outlier, .291 last year or .271 this year?

 

plus, his LD% is up from last year but his BABIP is .273 - very low for a 22.4 LD%. it's a combination of bad luck and playing on an ankle that he sprained early in the year and probably still hasn't totally healed.

[chuckywang]

every team's fans are frontrunners. people stopped going to watch the cubs when they were horrid in 2006, and more people were tuning in to see the white sox when they were good. i don't really have a problem with this either - if the cubs aren't going to put an acceptable product on the field, i wouldn't give them my money.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/attend.shtml

 

The Cubs were 5th in the NL in attendance in 2006, and fell just short of the attendance record to that point. (A new record was set in 2007)

 

you know as well as i do that a number or those tickets were sold well in advance. by september of that year, the real attendance wasn't exceeding 30,000, even if the paid attendance was above that mark.

 

But even approx. 30K people is better than a large portion of team draw on average this year.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

 

There's no question that more fans go to Wrigley every year than most other teams. But that doesn't make Truffle's overall point wrong. You'd have to compare fans of a team that's winning to fans of that same team when it's losing. If there's a team that fills its stadium or even maintains an even attendance level, whether the team is winning or losing, that would disprove his point (to some extent).

 

Agreed. But Cubs fans are def. not as "fairweathered" or "front runner" or whatever as, say the Phillies fans. Or the White Sox for that matter.

 

Here's a pic of Wrigley in 2006 (just sayin'):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2791475745_4b2b3a01a2_o.jpg

[JoshiQ]

That's a very sad picture.

[Soul]

Holy crap think of the opportunity to snag baseballs before & during the game!

 

On Rollins' comment, I think he's more right about any comments that are uncivil than just saying Philly fans "are frontrunners." Booing I'm OK with, not showing up when the team sucks -- I'm OK with.

 

Yelling out obscenities & such, personally I think that's when it crosses the line, and if I was a player I too would want to know if I was going to get alot more of that than usual.