Orioles reliever Pedro Strop has been struggling, allowing eight runs in his last four appearances, and he was booed off the mound by the home fans last night after coughing up four runs while recording one out.
Afterward he talked about being bothered by the boos, telling Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun:I heard it when I was walking from the mound. Booing somebody like that--I was giving everything I’ve got to help the team win and to give a good show. … They don’t care about players. They care about good results.
It’s not a big deal. I know they just want to see good results, but at the same time, they don’t know what it takes, what hard work and dedication it takes to perform well. So that’s why they boo, because they don’t know.
I tend to agree with much of what Strop said, in that booing a player simply because he’s performing poorly--as opposed to, say, not giving a full effort--has always struck me as silly. Still, it’s tough to imagine there being any benefit for Strop speaking publicly about the boos.
The type of person who loudly boos a relief pitcher coming off the mound after a bad performance seems unlikely to read that relief pitcher’s thoughts in the newspaper and think: “Hmm, I never realized it could hurt his feelings. I’ll stop and tell everyone I know to do the same.”
Instead, next time Strop struggles I’d bet on the boos being even louder. Having delved into this topic quite a bit last year when Twins fans at Target Field were booing a struggling Joe Mauer, I know there’s nothing people who boo like less than being questioned about why they’re booing.
