I understand how Joe
Maddon doesn’t want to hear boo-birds every time he visits the mound; who
would? But major-league managers are
paid enough to deal with such a slight and still have enough cash left over to
ponder the motivations of those who boo.
A good part of it goes
back to the start, I think, when parents first hand over their kid(s) to
someone else to coach. Every slight our
kids feel, we feel, more so even. I’m
convinced a whole bunch of people boo at an MLB game because of the actions of
a youth-sports’ coach somewhere. So,
Maddon and Gabe Kapler are in some respects victims of transference, if you
will. If that sounds too technical, feel
free to go with “punching bags.”
Was I inclined to boo
Ozzie Guillen and Robin Ventura because of stuff that happened to Clare? You’d have to ask my “shrink,” if I had one,
and (s)he would just cite doctor-patient confidentiality, anyway, so let me
offer a definite “Probably.” I’ll even
throw in a few reasons why I might have.
Clare’s first travel
coach was known to kick fathers out of practice if they dared question his
moves; I know he banned a player from the organization because her father didn’t
like how she was being used. Better for Clare
if I booed Ozzie Guillen.
Not that I ducked all
parent-coach fights. One time I let another
coach know Clare thought he was being arbitrary with playing time; things
worked out because that coach was a decent guy who let his player explain her
side of things. Another set of coaches
were anything but decent, and I let them know it, as did Clare. This one guy went so far as to tell her she’d
never hit in college. Trust me, he was
no better at handling pitchers than he was in judging talent. So, Ozzie may have taken it on the chin on
account of a travel coach who didn’t know a bat from a hole in the ground. Such is life.
But I promise you this:
if I boo anyone nowadays, it has everything to do with them, I swear.
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