So the other night… Tuesday night, in fact – Cheryl and I
are sitting in the View MVP section with friends and this guy starts walking
around with a neon colored sign with the words “Show me the money Josh Hamilton”
and “He’s robbing you blind, Arte.”
Now, the first question you have to ask yourself is what
possesses a person to come to a ball game with such a sign. The man happened to be at the game with three
young boys, who I assume were his own.
Was he there to teach them a life lesson? Was he looking for his fifteen minutes of
fame and wanted to make sure his boys got to share in the experience? Or was he simply looking to get a little air
before he crawled back under the rock he lived under?
The interesting thing is that he didn’t really get a
reaction from anyone – except for the security person who showed up to make him
put his sign away. No one seemed to care
and although some were probably annoyed – they probably realized he wasn’t worth the
energy. Even when security had him put the
sing away, no one made a peep. When he
left the game early… nada. Nothing.
No doubt he wanted the cameras to find him, but
apparently he wasn’t bright enough to understand that wasn’t going to happen
and the only camera that was going to notice him were the ones being viewed by
security.
So – here’s the deal.
Showing up to rant about a player isn’t going to get you much. For one thing – I’m certain Josh Hamilton couldn’t
hear the man shout things like “I want your paycheck.” Sitting in the upper level should be an
obvious road block to your goal of having the player actually hear you. Common sense should prevail in these
situations, but I guess one has to have it to use it.
Think about it.
Hamilton can’t hear you and the cameras aren’t going to put you on a big
screen. At this point you have to
realize you’re only annoying the fans sitting in the area and what you’re doing
is making a much bigger statement about yourself than it does about Josh
Hamilton. And then there’s the kids…
think about the kids, man. Do you really
want them growing up with this imbedded in their memory?
You have to be more creative than that.
So here are some suggestions for anyone who wants to make a
statement about Josh Hamilton’s struggles.
These things will at the very least, elicit a chuckle or two from the
fans in the stands.
Make a voodoo doll.
No, not of Josh Hamilton, stupid; after all, we are still Angel fans –
but one of the opposing pitcher. Every
time the pitcher goes to wind up – have his arm go crazy and throw the ball
into the stands. You accomplish two
things this way. One, the fans in the
area will appreciate the souvenir and two, Josh Hamilton will get a walk and
his on-base percentage will go up. Now, I don’t believe in voodoo, but at this point
anything might help. Just make sure the
voodoo doll is huge for impact.
This one is for the Hamiltown crowd – the group that sits in
the right field pavilion holding up the sign.
Every time Hamilton makes an out – downgrade the sign. For his first at-bat, you’re a town… if he
makes an out – you’re a community then a cul-de-sac, and then a small house and
last, but not least – an outhouse – which could have a couple different
meanings, if you catch my drift. What
would all of that look like? You figure
it out – I’m just throwing out ideas.
Okay… enough of that. And quite frankly - the Hamiltown crowd is a great group trying to do something positive. In fact - we need more fans to follow their example.
So... you know what would really be cool? This would be sure to make its way to ESPN
or at the very least the local news. What
if every time Hamilton came up to bat – we all stood and clapped and chanted
Ham-il-ton! I’m not talking about a patch of people here or there – I’m talking
about an entire stadium; standing in support of a man who desperately wants to
live up to expectations. To make it even
more amazing – what if every fan was wearing a Josh Hamilton t-shirt or jersey?
Imagine the impact.
It’s too easy to sit and complain about how badly Hamilton
has performed. And booing? That’s just weak. Boo A.J. Pierzysnki or Ian Kinsler – but booing
Josh Hamilton is pointless. Do you
really think that’s going to make him play better? Would it make you perform better?
My crazy idea isn’t likely to take hold. There are too many cynics and complainers in
the world. That’s not a group I want to
associate with.
I can only do what I can do.
I’m going to make a point of showing my support for Hamilton from now
on. This team needs him and baseball
will be a lot more fun - if and when he starts playing like the player he can
be.
Something has to change.
As fans we have no control over what happens on the field, but we can have
an impact on the environment the player performs in. Think about it.
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