Cubs fans who are booing Latroy are classless!!!

[Coach C]

Here's my take on this. I'm so sick of these idiots who think because they pay for a seat in the game so that they can get into the action. I have no problem with Hawkins at all. Sure he didn't live up to his expectations in Chicago, but not all of them are entirely his fault. Some of the blame shoul go to Dusty, for the fact that Dusty kept saying that he is a closer and yada yada. Hawkins left Chicago with nothing but good things to say about the city of Chicago, if I am not mistaken. And this is how the fans repay him? Pitiful.

 

I also think (expletive) like this is just an symptom of a much greater problem - the decline of our society in general. Hoardes of morons raised with no discipline, morals or sense of personal responsibility = embarrassing public spectales, and this sort of thing is happening more and more often.

[Uber]

Here's my take on this. I'm so sick of these idiots who think because they pay for a seat in the game so that they can get into the action.

 

I also think (expletive) like this is just an symptom of a much greater problem - the decline of our society in general. Hoardes of morons raised with no discipline, morals or sense of personal responsibility = embarrassing public spectales, and this sort of thing is happening more and more often.

 

I couldn't agree more. I laughed when I heard about that the lady who took a chair in the face in Oakland last year had those seats for the sole purpose of heckling the guys in the bullpen. Not justifying what Rodriguez did, but I sure can't say I feel sorry for her.

[2242005CY]

Racial slurs? I don't remember hearing anything about racial slurs or threats.

The slurs and threats were mailed to him. I'm not sure if he actually heard any.

 

While I hadn't heard of any I'm not surprised that he got some hate mail. Unfortunantely our society is less than perfect and if you're in any facet of the entertainment business, I'm sure it's part of the territory. NOT AT ALL CONDONING IT, just making a point that I think a lot of us would be surprised to see how many players, good and bad players, get some sort of threatening mail.

 

I am sure even the mighty Mark Grace got his share of hate mail. Although most of it was probably for a** grabbin at the local watering hole.

[GlassCow]

I wish I could go to some people's jobs and boo them. You know, like the Seinfeld episode where he heckled the heckler.

 

As I've stated previously, give me Latroy's salary and you can come boo me as often as you like at my job.

 

You know, if I could I would. I dont think anyone here could take the sustained jeers, racial slurs, threats, etc that LaTroy recieved here, and still is apparently.

 

Racial slurs? Threats? All I heard was 'Hawkins Sucks'. Obviously there is never a justifiable reason for slurs or threats, regardless of the circumstances.

 

Tonight that's all you heard, but he recieved far worse while he was here. Like Mark said, you hear much worse things in the bleachers.

 

I'll just never understand this 'I'm entitled to boo' mentality people have adopted. You boo the opposing team, you don't boo your team. Yes I realize LaTroy is no longer on this team, but this all started when he was here after taking a pay cut to come here. Obviously you're going to be upset/disapointed at some point but turning on the athletes and citing salary as justification is a pretty poor way of handling it, IMO.

 

I can understand your position of booing opposing players and cheering Cubs players. However, my particular strategy is to boo any players (regardless of team) that contribute to the Cubs losing games, and cheer any players (regardless of team) that contribute to the Cubs winning games. For instance, during tonight's miserable loss, I was cheering for Hawkins. I loved seeing him serve up that bomb to MikeyB.

[2242005CY]

Here's my take on this. I'm so sick of these idiots who think because they pay for a seat in the game so that they can get into the action. I have no problem with Hawkins at all. Sure he didn't live up to his expectations in Chicago, but not all of them are entirely his fault. Some of the blame shoul go to Dusty, for the fact that Dusty kept saying that he is a closer and yada yada. Hawkins left Chicago with nothing but good things to say about the city of Chicago, if I am not mistaken. And this is how the fans repay him? Pitiful.

 

I also think (expletive) like this is just an symptom of a much greater problem - the decline of our society in general. Hoardes of morons raised with no discipline, morals or sense of personal responsibility = embarrassing public spectales, and this sort of thing is happening more and more often.

 

Do you think he should've been traded?

[Uber]

I wish I could go to some people's jobs and boo them. You know, like the Seinfeld episode where he heckled the heckler.

 

As I've stated previously, give me Latroy's salary and you can come boo me as often as you like at my job.

 

You know, if I could I would. I dont think anyone here could take the sustained jeers, racial slurs, threats, etc that LaTroy recieved here, and still is apparently.

 

Racial slurs? Threats? All I heard was 'Hawkins Sucks'. Obviously there is never a justifiable reason for slurs or threats, regardless of the circumstances.

 

Tonight that's all you heard, but he recieved far worse while he was here. Like Mark said, you hear much worse things in the bleachers.

 

I'll just never understand this 'I'm entitled to boo' mentality people have adopted. You boo the opposing team, you don't boo your team. Yes I realize LaTroy is no longer on this team, but this all started when he was here after taking a pay cut to come here. Obviously you're going to be upset/disapointed at some point but turning on the athletes and citing salary as justification is a pretty poor way of handling it, IMO.

 

I can understand your position of booing opposing players and cheering Cubs players. However, my particular strategy is to boo any players (regardless of team) that contribute to the Cubs losing games, and cheer any players (regardless of team) that contribute to the Cubs winning games. For instance, during tonight's miserable loss, I was cheering for Hawkins. I loved seeing him serve up that bomb to MikeyB.

 

As far as cheering LaTroy failing tonight, that's fine in my book. I still think it's absurd to boo players from your team. Personally I think it's just as effective if nobody mutters a word when the player is announced, and not as, for lack of a better word, [expletive] as booing them. That's just my opinion from how I was raised, and we're probably not going to agree on it regardless. So with that I'm going to sleep, hoping I wake up to find Macias released.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Like I said before, Cubs fans are the new Red Sox fans.

 

So true.

[Careless]

While I wouldn't give hawkins any crap away from the game, he's a fair target while he's on the field. We have a right to try to mess with his head as long as we don't cross the line.

Actually, the only giant I saw definitely react to the crowd today was Pujols, the 1b coach. He started yelling at the fans after a loud "you suck" was directed at him. He gave the impression that as a 1b coach he doesn't get that a lot

[Laura]

Tonight that's all you heard, but he recieved far worse while he was here. Like Mark said, you hear much worse things in the bleachers.

 

I've heard a lot of lewd, crude and profane things said in the bleachers over the past few years, but Wrigley ushers/security people do draw the line at shouting racial slurs at people. The few times I've heard racial insults, the other fans reacted and the person was immediately shown the door. Just my experience.

[GhostRunner]

Initally the booing and chanting "Hawww-kins" didn't bother me, but the "Hawkins Sucks, Hawkins Sucks" was a bit over the line.

 

And it's not because I pity LaTroy. As a pro baseball player, he gets paid to perform and that includes performing under the heckling of fans, but what crossed my mind was the fact that Hawkins grew up in Indiana as a true-blue Cubs fan.

 

I can't put myself in his shoes, but it must be painful to hear the fans of the same team you grew up following cursing your name in their home park. Hawkins didn't perform well as a Cub, but his teammates made it known publicly that he was very well-liked in the clubhouse.

 

He doesn't deserve any more abuse IMO. . . tonight was enough, now let it go. There are plenty of ex-Cubs that were much worse than Hawkins & never caught nearly as much flak as he has.

 

I also embarassedly agree that Cubs fans are now seemingly on par with Boston fans, which is a definite insult any way you cut it. I blame the Hundley/Alfonseca fiascos for the attitude change.

[10man]

Like I said before, Cubs fans are the new Red Sox fans.

So true.

Sadly being "Red Sox" fans hasn't moved the Cubs team any closer to being as good as the Red Sox team.

[Holy Cow]

Like I said before, Cubs fans are the new Red Sox fans.

 

Yeah, I've been saying this for a couple of years now. Its too bad, I always enjoyed feeling like we Cubs fans had a better attitude...

[Mizzou]

Booing clearly has an effect on Hawkins. If Cubs fans booing will help the team, then boo away. Screw respect or whatever else; if it helps the Cubs win, I'm all for it. And you should be too.

[LoneStarCubFan]

I am a huge Cubs fan, and have been for many years. I just don't understand why all the hatred has been directed towards Latroy. I actually felt ashamed to be a Cubs fan tonight, watching that game on t.v.

 

What was Latroy's crime? What has he done to deserve the verbal barage of insults? I know that he played bad for the Cubs, but c'mon - he was brought in as a setup man and ended his Cubs stint as a bad reliever. Did I miss something? Did he do something bad, other than pitch?

 

Here is Latroy's pitching stats with the Cubs:

2004

5-4 2.63 ERA 25 saes 34 opportunities

 

2005

1-4 3.32 ERA 4 saves 8 opportunities

 

So he couldn't close out a game. Many relievers have failed in that spot. Big freakin' deal. He wasn't brought in to close!!!! Needless to say, I feel bad for Latroy. He should never have been treated like this tonight.

 

They booed him because he deserved it.

[Chocolate Milk]

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I agree.

[Chocolate Milk]

Also, I couldn't care less about Latroy Hawkins. I don't feel bad for players that are booed. Sorry.

[jyoung55]

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Wow, someone is getting banned.

 

I agree with Mizzou... he was on the OTHER TEAM last night... the chants obviously effected him, so chant away. Now if we could have just told Jody to keep the bat on his shoulder on a 2-0 ball 3 pitch we could have really capitalized. But I do think the straight Hawkins chant was further from the line than the Hawkins Sucks one.

[snoodmonger]

I felt bad for him. I felt less bad for him after he got out of the inning without giving up the lead.

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

I think a large part of the torment he had to deal with last night was because the fans were restless from the rain delay. Have you ever stayed through a rain delay? The fans that stay to the end of the game, especially at 1 in the morning, are noticeably more crazy. While I agree that you should be able to boo if you want to, I think last night went too far. I think it just snowballed throughout the stadium, and more and more people thought it was acceptable to chant horrible things. It's that whole, "well, they did it first, so it has to be alright if i do it" mentality.

 

I also don't think you should boo your own team for their performance on the field. The only time you should boo is when they give you a real reason to. Like when someone doesn't run out a grounder, or refuses to move down in the batting order when they obviously need to. When someone doesn't do what they can to help the team win, that's when they should be booed. Poor performance doesn't always mean they aren't trying their best. Slumps happen.

[hawkeyecub]

Like I said last night, it's selective outrage that fans are showing.

 

Basically every outfielder who comes to Wrigley gets his name changed at him and the "Wilson sucks" chant. People joke about that often around here and I rarely hear that being called a disgrace.

 

The only difference last night is that it was the majority of a half-full crowd rather than just the bleachers.

I'm not saying I like it, but it's nothing new and I think the outrage is a little overblown.

 

By the way for everyone talking about how most people don't get heckled in their job and how it wouldn't be fair and they couldn't handle it? I did some telemarketing when I was a poor college student. Some of the verbal abuse I took on the phone there put last night to shame. But I understood that came with the territory and I was making pretty decent money for a part-time job in college so I took it.

[Sec 511 Die-hard]

I wrote the original post and maybe should have added that I have no problem with booing. I think it has it's time and it's place. When a player doesn't hustle, or continues to make the same stupid mental errors - that's fine... boo away. But Latroy was loved by his teamates, and just didn't get the job done here. He was a life long Cubs fan like most of us are. He took a pay cut to come to the Cubs as a setup man, and do to circumstances - he was put in as a closer.

 

If you take away his save/blown save stats - he wasn't too bad. A 2.63 ERA out of the bullpen is pretty good.

 

But I would imagine that most of the Cubs fans who were booing last night were the typical 21-27 year old casual fan who lives in the neighborhood and has no idea how great of a person Latroy is.

 

I am going to write Latroy a letter thanking him for his effort with the Cubs and wishing him the best. He is a class act. Even if his numbers were subpar.

[hawkeyecub]

He is a class act.

 

I'm not going to say he's a bad guy, but I think "class act" is going a little far.

[J.R.]

If you take away his save/blown save stats - he wasn't too bad. A 2.63 ERA out of the bullpen is pretty good.

 

God, I wish those s/bs stats would vanish - his garbage almost made me hate the game.

 

Latroy sucked big time. He cost us a shot at October. He's fair game.

[YearofDaCubs]

I can care less if Hawkins is butt-hurt or not. He was terrible for us.

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

If you take away his save/blown save stats - he wasn't too bad. A 2.63 ERA out of the bullpen is pretty good.

 

God, I wish those s/bs stats would vanish - his garbage almost made me hate the game.

 

Latroy sucked big time. He cost us a shot at October. He's fair game.

 

To be fair, half the team cost us a shot at October last year. He can't be singled out for that when no one played like they should've when it mattered.