One could argue that Reds fans have a moral obligation to boo guys like Griffey, but that’s a topic for another day.

I proudly fueled my entire section into a boo chorus at Game 23 against the Twins last year with a deep, hearty howl after Leyland and Wil Ledezma got tossed on a bad obstruction call.

My kids couldn’t believe their ears and it was probably not setting the best example, but damn if it didn’t feel good!

a) Someone doesn’t run on a ball in play because ‘they thought it was foul’. No excuse for that to happen, EVER.

b) You’re Ken Griffey and 8-10 times a year a stand up double/triple is turned into a single because you stand at the plate gawking at a fly ball because you incorrectly thought it was a HR. When that happens, the fans should boo until that player is removed from the lineup.
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Other instances are when its the ALCS against Oakland, game 4, its a tight game, and Grilli has walked 75 consecutive batters and hasn’t been removed, and you want to express your opinion to Leyland that Grilli should be removed from the game.

Everyone except the passengers.

Personally, I’m trying to make this season bearable by finding the positive. For instance…

– Sheffield still has 3 functioning limbs, that’s 75%!
– Guillen and Cabrera in a slump means they’re not pulling muscles on the base paths!
– Tigers losing a day game means my night is free for other activities, much appreciated by Mrs. G!

Someone commented that the team cares and wants to win. Of course they do, everyone wants to win, but not everyone wants to do what it takes to win.

I don’t think its unrealistic to expect to see some tangible evidence that the team wants to win as much as Ryan Freel does, as much as Reed Johnson does, as much as Eric Byrnes does.

You must be a communist. Kirk Gibson was surely another John Wayne – clean-cut, strong, silent. Why, I remember the 1984 Tigers. Clean-living young men who played the game not for money, but to glorify our great land. Yes, Kirk Gibson would clean up this town.

How can anyone be down on Maggs? Besides last year, and the year before, he’s been the best hitter on this team all year. I’m tempted to compare Gibson unfavorably with Ordonez and turn that haircut statement on its head, but I have to remember that it wasn’t Gibson calling Maggs a “pretty boy.”

He also probably would have let his hair grow if he would’ve had any.

As for booing and tossing the word “hate” around toward a baseball team. I have a suggestion. Take some time off when you feel something inside you as a fan snap. For me, it was when Verlander walked the unwalkable Tony Pena, Jr. on four pitches. I told my wife I was finished watching, and that I would watch again when I felt myself missing watching the games.

I’d recommend the same approach when you feel yourself hating the team or feeling the need to boo. Turn the TV off. Sell your tickets or just don’t go. I think about and write about baseball more than I probably should, and even I know you should set it aside for a while when it’s not fun anymore.