Bad Defense; Worse Fans

Tonight's game was classically awful, so I will put off talking about the game itself for long enough to rant about bad fans and my fan pet peeves. When games are going well, the type of fans that baseball people hate are less noticeable. It seems likely that this is because, when teams are doing well, good fans and bad fans alike are happy and so their cheering sounds similar. But when the team is playing poorly, as they were tonight, the bad and the ignorant (usually the same people) stand out at a game.

It is when a team is struggling and they begin either heckling or encouraging the team that these people commit what seem to be the most awful atrocities. Most of the horrible things that these people do seems to come from ignorance of the way professional baseball is played. Their experience with baseball does not extend beyond their own years in little league or a few seasons as a little league parent. They attend one or two minor league games a year and they suddenly think they are experts who feel the need to tout their experiences playing or watching "hardball."

Now, I know that in any park, whether minor league or major league, there are many fans (most fans actually) who know very little about baseball outside of the basic rules of the game. If it weren't for fans who come to a game here and there because they like to be outdoors, or because it's fun to come to the park and eat a hot dog, baseball could not survive. So I don't disparage the casual fan. But, when fans who don't know crap decide that they know something and they start yelling nonsense at the players, coaches, or at no one in general, I begin to feel homicidal. So, in order to save lives, I offer a few pointers to would-be uneducated hecklers by way of pointing out things you should NOT yell at a professional baseball game.

1) "Come on guys, you gotta hustle!" Common offenders using this phrase are generally the type of little league educated fan to which I referred earlier. These people assume that baseball players can and should get to any ball they run after or beat out any infield play they've hit into if only they will run hard enough. They think this because, in little league play, coaches are always admonishing their players to "hustle" and it seems to have an effect. But these people clearly have no concept of how huge a full-sized baseball field really is. So here's something these fans need to know. Players who make it as high as AAA are very good players, and, because they would like to make it all the way to the big show, they will never be caught not "hustling." You should assume that, if it was possible to get to that ball/base, the player in question would have. They do not need to hear "hustle" from a fat guy who couldn't run 90 feet in ten minutes, much less in the few seconds it takes for a short stop to pick up a ball and throw it to the first baseman.

2) "You gotta swing at that!" This sentence is shouted at any batter who takes [doesn't swing at] a strike. Yelling this may be appropriate if a player strikes out swinging, but here's what fans need to know with regard to hitters and pitch selection. Little league players are taught to swing at everything they think is a strike because they need to learn to distinguish between a ball and a strike. Professional hitters, on the other hand, are taught to be very picky with regard to hit-able pitches. This is because professional pitchers have extraordinary command. They can throw pitches, not just to the strike zone, but to particular parts of the strike zone. A good pitcher can throw pitches that will be a strike, but will be in part of the strike zone that will force a hitter to hit it where the pitcher wants it. For instance, if a pitcher can keep a pitch low and on the outside corner, the hitter can only beat the ball into the ground toward the first baseman. If he can keep it on the inside corner, the hitter can only foul it or pop it up. For this reason, good hitters will choose which pitches they can actually do something with. A professional hitter knows that he has three strikes to play with, so he will take a strike (maybe even two) in order to wait on a pitch that he can hit in the way HE wants to, instead of doing exactly what the pitcher is trying to get him to do.
*A note: A pitcher will have his version of this same approach. He knows he has four balls to work with. If he is ahead in the count, he will begin to throw out of the strike zone, trying to get the batter to chase a pitch that he cannot hit. If you watch a Red Sox game, you will notice that in every 0-2 count, Jason Varitek stands up behind the plate in order to tell the pitcher to throw the pitch high out of the strike zone because hitters will often swing at the high pitch because it is hard to tell if it is a strike or a ball.

And here is the worst taunt of all:

3) "That's why your not in [name major league city]!" This is a stupid fan trademark. They shout this as if playing AAA baseball us somehow shameful. News flash: AAA players are EXTREMELY good players. Many of them will spend several seasons going up and down from the major leagues to AAA until they stay for good or retire with a minor league pension (which they can now earn if they play four seasons in the minor leagues). The difference between a major league player and a AAA player is very minor. Every AAA player is talented enough to be in the major leagues. That's why they are in AAA! The difference between the major leagues and AAA is player consistency. The major league player is consistently excellent and rarely imperfect. The AAA player is less consistent because they are only usually perfect. In any case, these are men who are good enough to play the sport for a living, and for a good living at that. They are infinitely better than you ever were or than your snot-nosed, dandelion picking little leaguer ever will be.

Finally: A Note on Tonight's Game:

Isotopes 7, Redhawks 0
Tonight's game was not worth breaking down. If you want box scores, follow the link from the title of this blog. The only thing about which I would like to remark is the Redhawks atrocious defense so far this season. Through the first 25 games, the Redhawks have played only five (5) error-free games. They tied their season high with three errors in tonight game, leading to three un-earned runs. Tommy Hunter was horrible in his first start in AAA this season, but the defense behind him mad him look way worse than he was. He managed five strike outs while giving up only one walk - a serviceable night if he can get some offensive production and if his fielders don't give the other team extra outs. The Hawks need to fix their defensive play. Right now, Arias is the only infielder who has anything close to major league defensive skills, and even he hasn't been as sharp this season as he has been in the past. It's hard to work on fundamentals after spring training gives way to the daily grind of the regular season, but they have GOT to do something!