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To Boo or Not to Boo?
2006-05-01 12:04
by Alex Belth

Steve Silva, who runs the provocative "Boston Dirt Dogs" site, is calling for Red Sox fans to cheer for Johnny Damon tonight at Fenway Park. There are a lot of yahoos at Fenway Park (just as you'll find, oh maybe, perhaps one or twelve hundred knuckleheads in the Bronx). At the same time, there are also a lot of appreciative, knowledgeable fans up there too (after all, Boston fans have given Joe DiMaggio and Joe Torre ovations in the past). I expect Damon to hear some cheers to being with and figure he'll be booed soundly after that.

Comments
2006-05-01 12:14:12
1.   Bob Timmermann
If L.A. Dodger fans boo Shawn Green for having the temerity to be traded to another team, I think that the fine folks of Boston will be able to muster up more than their share of boos for Damon.

Can Boston reach the recent high in hatred, which was in 1999 when Kevin Brown made his first appearance for the Dodgers in San Diego and the Padres mascot "the Swinging Friar" carried around an effigy of Brown and invited fans to hit it with a bat.

2006-05-01 12:33:05
2.   uburoisc
I'd like to hit an effigy of Kevin Brown with a bat, where do I sign up?
2006-05-01 12:42:00
3.   Hank
The Boston fans have done the right thing in the past, at least once or twice. There was the Clemens lovefest before his "retirement," and I seem to remember that Mattingly got an ovation there on the last day of the season once. He was chasing someone -- an injured Boggs, I think -- in the batting race, and he needed to go 6 for 6 to win. With the pennant out of reach, Sweet Lou had him hit leadoff to give him a shot at those six hits, but he only managed a home run and a double. He ended up at .352, short of Boggs's .357. If I remember correctly, though, he got a standing ovation after lining out in the ninth. Does anyone else remember that?

Here's the game I'm talking about:
http://tinyurl.com/za7ep

2006-05-01 13:08:01
4.   pistolpete
Boston fans can definitely be brutal, but still not as bad as Philly's. I remember the standing 'O' for Torre when he came back from his prostate cancer treatments, so they can't be all jerks.

Still, this was a choice by Damon to sign with the hated rival. I honestly don't see much cheering (if at all) in Johnny's future. Unless Yankees fans somehow bought up all of tonight's tickets...

2006-05-01 14:04:43
5.   Shaun P
2 ROTFLOL!

As for Damon getting booed, I hope he is not booed. If you had a choice between employment offers, and money was the only difference, who doesn't take the money? You can bet the drunk fans in the Fenway bleachers would take the money without a second thought.

Shoot, Orlando Cabrera - who was there for 2 months! - got a standing O when he came back with the Angels. Damon deserves at least that.

I think the Boston fans will show some class and cheer him at first, and then boo afterwards.

2006-05-01 14:06:07
6.   Dimelo
Philly fas are bad. I still remember laughing my ass off when Michael Irvin layed motionless at Veterans Stadium, and all the fans were cheering like crazy. Philly fans are the worse. Didn't they boo Santa at a Eagles game too?

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