The saddest part of being a fan (for me)

[weams]

2 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

There are a very few who refer to the players like that. I get mad when I see someone calling a player trash or garbage...but to acknowledge that a player has been very good and his time is coming to an end doesn't generally bother me. 

 

The great ones make you feel that way, but that is reserved for a very few. I still remember Larry Bird and hoping that he would never have to retire. Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray were that way for me too.

 

No ball players are trash unless they are murderers, paedophiles, or wife beaters. 

 

And there is always one more year. Isn't there?

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

No ball players are trash unless they are murderers, paedophiles, or wife beaters. 

 

And there is always one more year. Isn't there?

You left off commit hate crimes.

Or do you draw the line in a different spot?

[maybenxtyr]

Just now, weams said:

No ball players are trash unless they are murderers, paedophiles, or wife beaters. 

 

And there is always one more year. Isn't there?

I get that. I'm talking about after bad performances calling a player names like that. Or, calling just about any human garbage or trash really doesn't work for me. I got an infraction here last year for jumping on another poster for that stuff.

[El Gordo]

22 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

They are all entertainers.  Particularly when it comes to vocalists I think a lot of past their prime folks are out there.  No one asks a lead vocalist to retire when they can't hit the high notes anymore. 

Do you think watching Brando in the Island of Dr Moreau was any less sad than watching Brooks in his final days on the field?

Heck Millar hit a HR last night as a 45 year old playing for the Saints, how is that not changing the venue?

Watching Brando any time was a delight. He was one of a kind even when he was phoning it in. He was great in his last film while DeNiro was phoning it in. 

[El Gordo]

Not being a fantasy baseball player I don't view players as commodities to be bought and sold on the market. I identify with players as a fan not as a wannabe GM. When they decline I too feel sad.

[weams]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

You left off commit hate crimes.

Or do you draw the line in a different spot?

Yeah. Hate Crimes too. I don't consider Miggy Cabrera an awful piece of trash, because of the alcoholism. But I probably should. 

[El Gordo]

23 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I get that. I'm talking about after bad performances calling a player names like that. Or, calling just about any human garbage or trash really doesn't work for me. I got an infraction here last year for jumping on another poster for that stuff.

Well maybe there's one human who deserves that title. But you're right about everyone else.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, weams said:

They really should quit before their skills get to the level that they are not who they were. Or even to be able to help a team. My opinion. 

It can happen very suddenly.   

[weams]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It can happen very suddenly.   

Four Strike Outs in a row and 93 MPH fastball for Tillman!

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

Four Strike Outs in a row and 93 MPH fastball for Tillman!

That inning was the best he's looked all year.    Unlike the previous inning.  

[weams]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That inning was the best he's looked all year.    Unlike the previous inning.  

Well the bases loaded K looked fine. ~d thinks he may have texted Matt. 

[Nevermore]

I root for the individual players as well as for the team. I will even follow an ex-Oriole after he has left the team.  Though if he were to play the Orioles,  I would root for the Orioles without hesitation. But it's sad for me to see a former Oriole leave my team, though I realize that it's sometimes necessary for the good of the team. 

I  don't know how many people read the comic strip "Peanuts" but the main character Charlie Brown has a favorite MLB player a fictional player named "Joe Slobotnik" who is the most inept, horrible, untalented player in all of MLB.  Charlie Brown is absolutely loyal to his favorite player no matter what. That's sort of what I'm like.  In 2014, I found my own Joe Slobotnik, a pitcher named Ubaldo Jimenez who was just about as inept and horrible as Charlie Brown's favorite player,   who kept getting booed off the mound by Orioles fans, who has been demoted to the bullpen just about every year since he joined the team. I just had to become the Grand Poo bah of the Ubaldo Jimenez Fan Club. Ubaldo likely will leave the team after this year  if not sooner. Being an Orioles fan, I can't be the Grand Poo bah of anyone's fan club who isn't an Oriole. 

Hmmmm.  There's a guy who used to be an ace but now is inept and horrible. Maybe I should become the Grand Poo bah of the Chris Tillman Fan Club. Except Tilly may also be on the way out.  Sigh.... ?

 

 

 

[crissfan172]

9 hours ago, weams said:

They really should quit before their skills get to the level that they are not who they were. Or even to be able to help a team. My opinion. 

I think players should do whatever makes them happy. If people want to keep hiring them, they should keep competing...if that's what they want to do. 

 

9 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Do you feel the same way about musicians and actors?

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Musicians and actors are entertainers. Athletes are competitors. Musicians and actors making bad music/movies doesn't negatively affect anybody else. 

 

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd don't get emotionally attached in such a one sided relationship.  Do you think all the players view as as individual humans and not a blank faced collective fan base?  I don't really know them, they don't know me at all.  I can be superficially interested in them as items of interest but no deep connection will exist.

Interestingly enough (to me anyways), I think we have fairly similar personality traits. This is one area where I can't separate emotion and objectivity. I can want us not to re-sign Hardy next year, but I'll still be sad to see him go. Whether the emotions I felt were reciprocated by him doesn't change the fact that his play on the field did have an effect on my life.

 

9 hours ago, weams said:

I'm sure they do not. And I do not think Tillman is done.

Me neither, but I'm not sure his shoulder is strong enough right now to get the arm angle he needs to be successful. My biggest concern is that he's going to try to compensate for it and (I'm going a little out of my depth here) hurt his elbow in an effort to stay on top of the ball. 

[FlipTheBird]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

For me, the saddest part of being a fan is watching players who were huge contributors to your team decline to the point where they can't help the team anymore.   

Reading the board, there seem to be a lot of fans for whom the players are just playing units who are fungible, to be discarded without a second thought when their parts wear out.     But I've never seen them that way.    I see them as people, who have worked very hard to perfect their craft, who have close relationships to their teammates, and who in certain cases have contributed a tremendous amount to the success of the team over a considerable period of time.

That's why it's killing me to watch Chris Tillman and J.J. Hardy this year.    I want so badly for them to rally and put together a season where, even if they're not as good as they used to be, they can still be seen as contributing to the team.    And nearly halfway through the season, I know that it's not likely to happen, and that at the end of the year, it will be time to part ways with them.    And yes, I know it's possible that the team would be better off parting ways with them right now, instead of waiting until the end of the year.    That still could happen, especially with Tillman if he can't find a way to get more hitters out.     But as I said, I really hope it doesn't come to that. I'll be watching watching Tilly today and rooting for him to find a way to keep the Rays at bay.    And if he can't, I won't be mad.   I'll just be sad.    I'll never forget that he and J.J. were huge contributors to an enjoyable period of Orioles baseball, who were good teammates and did everything they could to help the team win.     They'll never be just worn out playing units to me.

A brilliant post. It is a shame that so many folks on this board have gotten so negative and fickle that they can't step back and see the real meaning, here.

There's a human element to sports that has gotten criminally under-appreciated in recent years. I think football's rise really drove it home, since players in the NFL typically have such a short shelf life anymore and as such fans are much more used to casting them aside.

I understand where you're coming from entirely, Frobby. It's been extraordinarily difficult to watch Tillman and Hardy struggle this year - and not just because it has cost the O's wins. I've been watching Orioles baseball for decades. I've seen lots of wins and lots of losses, and God willing I'll see many more (of both). In recent years I've seen a lot of Chris Tillman and JJ Hardy, and have seen them bring no shortage of joy to O's fans, myself included. Though I do not know them well as people (short of what I've seen in the media), and they don't know me at all, it is indeed saddening to see their careers start to fall apart.

Not because of money, because they've both got plenty of it. Not because of futures, because they'll both go on and do something, somewhere. But because I've enjoyed watching these guys play baseball the last 5-6 years, and it does hurt a little inside to see them suddenly doing so poorly, regardless of how the franchise is doing as a whole.

A part of me is also very sad that, given that the team seems on the cusp of rebuilding (which is in all likelihood the right call for the franchise)... Adam Jones probably won't win a title here. AJ has been an enormous part of this era of Orioles' baseball, and one of the most dedicated soldiers the franchise has had since the glory days of "Orioles Magic." I would have loved to have seen him lift the trophy in orange and black.

And sure, some folks may call those feeling irrational. But we're talking about sports. Everyone here roots for laundry, a series of colors on a cotton/polyester blend. Like this organization - which has changed hands, changed personnel and knows none of us - is any more a part of our lives than the guys who put on the jersey for a little while. This is normal. This is how it's supposed to feel.

[FlipTheBird]

11 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

If you saw the pension and benefits to compliment the insane salaries these players get all guaranteed..some of your sadness for them would melt away.Lets be honest.

Frobby's original post was all about the human connection, nothing about money.

Me, personally, I don't begrudge these players their earnings, honestly. It's capitalism. They work for very fruitful organizations, and are the most qualified professionals in their field. They're worth whatever someone's willing to pay them. Doesn't bother me, any. If the odd one starts crying poor, sure, they deserve some ire. But I don't hate on a guy because he gets however many millions to play baseball.