When the home fans booed Casey Janssen Thursday night, the target was:
mostly Casey Janssen | 35 (28.46%) |
the entire team | 59 (47.97%) |
John Gibbons | 13 (10.57%) |
J.P. Ricciardi | 6 (4.88%) |
Ricciardi and the players | 10 (8.13%) |
123 votes | 3 featured comments
It might make us feel better to think that the fans weren't really booing Janssen, who's been great all year, and instead chalking it up to a desire to express displeasure with the whole team or what have you. I don't really think, though, that the people who were actually booing were aiming their boos at anyone except the guy who had just faced six hitters and put them all on base, blowing a lead in the process. Is it unfair? Sure. Do I wish Toronto fans were just a little less dumb about things like this? Absolutely. But the thing is that fans in general and Jays fans in particular, as best I can tell, are very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately crowd where cheering and booing are considered.
I was at the game and the booing didn't start until after Janssen had let the first three batters reach base. In my section (right behind home plate, for a change) the fans were vocal about their displeasure with Gibbons for leaving Janssen in when clearly he didn't have his stuff. There were several comments about the way Gibbons has mismanaged pitchers of late, most notably of course leaving Burnett in to throw 130 pitches. Of course, there was also some frustration with the lack of Blue Jay hitting all night.
They were booing Janssen, and they were booing Gibbons for not hooking him fast enough. Right or wrong, that's what was happening.