My letter to Andy MacPhail (re: Millar)

[osfan83]

I think when it comes to competitive sports, it's important to the fan base to collectivley have a rival or rivals. While we all know in private life our players may very well be friends with players on the rival teams...the public "baseball" life needs to reinforce the rivalry.

Ohio State fans would go nuts if Jim Tressel showed up in Ann Arbor to cheer on the Wolvereens.

Browns fans hate the Steelers. I could not imagine Braylon Edwards cheering on the Steelers.

Rivals are very important in sports. No one said players on rival teams can't be friends and go on vacation together...but openly cheering for them on national TV, starts to destroy the rivalry.

[Boy Howdy]

I think when it comes to competitive sports, it's important to the fan base to collectivley have a rival or rivals. While we all know in private life our players may very well be friends with players on the rival teams...the public "baseball" life needs to reinforce the rivalry.

Ohio State fans would go nuts if Jim Tressel showed up in Ann Arbor to cheer on the Wolvereens.

Browns fans hate the Steelers. I could not imagine Braylon Edwards cheering on the Steelers.

Rivals are very important in sports. No one said players on rival teams can't be friends and go on vacation together...but openly cheering for them on national TV, starts to destroy the rivalry.

This is why I'm a little bothered/surprised that Selig didn't prevent this from happening.

It wasn't THAT long ago that players would be fined for even having a conversation with someone in the other uniform during batting practice. They called it the non-fraternization clause, and it was designed to protect the integrity of the competition.

The precedent set last evening strikes me as worse than a couple guys yakking it up about groupies, cars or whatever around the batting cage.

[Moose Milligan]

This is why I'm a little bothered/surprised that Selig didn't prevent this from happening.

It wasn't THAT long ago that players would be fined for even having a conversation with someone in the other uniform during batting practice. They called it the non-fraternization clause, and it was designed to protect the integrity of the competition.

The precedent set last evening strikes me as worse than a couple guys yakking it up about groupies, cars or whatever around the batting cage.

I see where you're coming from, but times have changed.

There seemed to be a similar stir when Dave Roberts (or was it someone else?) was invited back to Boston for the 2005 Opening Day ring ceremony and donned a Sox uni instead of his new one.

I might be a bit more dismayed if this were another team, actually...In other words, let's put aside the "rivalry" (and lets be honest, just because they're in our division doesn't make them "rivals" in the truest sense of the word. Right now, they're a team in our division that has a huge payroll and who we resent cause they're good and their diehard fans as well as bandwagoners invade our stadium every chance they get...thats as far as it goes) and look back to 2004. From a pure baseball fan standpoint what the Sox did that year was huge....and Millar was a big part of that.

Part of me thinks we can't relate to that because we've never had anything that big happen to us. Yeah, we've had some great moments in our history, but we've never gone 86 years without winning a World Series. We haven't had parents and grandparents pass away without having seen their most beloved team go all the way. We haven't had a silly curse slapped on our franchise, we haven't had all the heartbreaking losses and chokes in key moments...

I wasn't on this board in 2004, so I don't know how many of you were actually rooting for the Red Sox back then. I know I was rooting for them to beat the Yankees in the ALCS, though...I remember watching Roberts steal 2nd, Papi's clutch hits, Damon's grand slam, etc...I remember feeling happy for the Sox fans that they won their WS and came back against their biggest arch nemesis to do it.

Today is a different story...my hatred for the Sox and their fans is pretty much on the same level as the Yanks. And in some ways, it's surpassed them...but I digress.

I went off on a tangent there, but getting back to my point...we haven't had to put up with all the crap the Sox fans had to deal with through 2004 and I hope we'll never have to. Like I said, from a pure historical persepective as a baseball fan, their run in 2004 was pretty huge...I know it's somewhat easy to forget that now, though.

But Millar played such a big part of that and I can't get mad at him for going back there and rooting for his ex teammates like Schilling, Ortiz and Manny. The Sox fans also love him and he'll forever be one of theirs, just like Frank Robinson will be forever one of ours. And I'm cool with that.

I just got back from a trip and haven't had a chance to read all these threads but I also remember Millar hitting a game winning homer against the Sox on a Sunday afternoon this year...I won't ever question his heart and where his loyalties lie right now.

Ah well...

[Sports Guy]

This has really pissed some of you off...There are 3 threads going right now and they have a total of almost 700 replies in them.

Must be the slow part of the season/offseason.

[osfan83]

This has really pissed some of you off...There are 3 threads going right now and they have a total of almost 700 replies in them.

Must be the slow part of the season/offseason.

Or maybe it crosses and line and hit a nerve. I still don't see the upside of all of this for the O's.

I wonder why the Mets said no to Pedro:rolleyes:

[Baroquen131]

I think the negative reaction to this has more to do with the O's stinking so bad over the same years that the Sox have been one of the best, otherwise it wouldn't matter a bit to anyone.

I'm in the group that cares slightly. It bothers me. But I think the above point is incorrect. If the O's were a better team, I think fans would be more outraged that Millar would hype the Sox like he did. I think the 10 years of losing have caused more people to not care about the situation.

Nice that the O's are responding to this. Sad that they missed the point that is actually bothering people.

Thanks for the PTI too. It was on at the restaurant, but couldn't tell what they were saying.

I'm also slightly bothered by the dismissive attitude of the "I Don't Care" crowd on here. Because they don't have the same opinion on this issue as others, the others are foolish and misguided in their feelings. While there have been level-headed voices on both sides of this, and there have been over-reactions on both sides, I hope things don't devolve further and the discussions remain worthwhile. My advice - if tired of the topic: skip these threads and avoid the conflict.

[Jagwar]

On Mike & Mike this morning, Ditka was a guest, and said that if the Sox want Millar to do so much cheerleading for them, they should offer to pay his salary

[JTrea81]

On Mike & Mike this morning, Ditka was a guest, and said that if the Sox want Millar to do so much cheerleading for them, they should offer to pay his salary

That's another thing that bothers me. The Sox could have had Millar back in August, they just didn't want to trade anything for him. Now all of a sudden they "need" him to rally the fans and team because they were down 3-1 so they call it a celebration of the 2004 run as an excuse. MacPhail just gave Millar to the Sox without anything in return but an IOU that the Sox crapped on and then lit on fire...

However Millar is still the one to take the brunt of it because he's the one that said he doesn't care about what the fans think and would rather satisfy his need for Red Sux love than to have any team pride...

[TonySoprano]

MacPhail just gave Millar to the Sox without anything in return but an IOU that the Sox crapped on and then lit on fire....

Payback for giving them Javy Lopez;)

[osfan83]

The Red Sox are smarter than us. They get other teams to pay for their veteran presence.

Think we can get another team to pay Mora's contract, and then get him to come back late in the season if we need some of that team spirit and leadership?

[NewMarketSean]

This is right up there with Baltimore not being on the away uniforms. In the end it really doesn't make a difference but it's just one of those things that strikes a chord with people. And if there are 3 threads about it with over 700 replies in them, then it probably shouldn't be ignored like some people are doing.

[Flip217]

And if there are 3 threads about it with over 700 replies in them, then it probably shouldn't be ignored like some people are doing.

Do you mean the O's shouldn't ignore the people they upset? 'Cause I agree with that. But if you mean other Hangouters, why can't they ignore it if they think it's blown out of proportion (besides the fact it's hard to ignore 3 threads and 700 replies :002_ssmile: )?

[Tx Oriole]

To me this is a non issue. I am not upset that Millar did that. I can understand that he still ahs friends on that team and did win a WS with them a couple of years ago.

[PoorMike]

I also love the not-so-subtle connotation that since the majority of people are upset about it (which is debatable anyway), it must be worthwhile. The fact that the majority of the public feels one way about an issue has almost nothing to do with whether the opinion is valid/morally correct or not. Slavery, abortion, earth is flat, sun goes around the earth, earth center of the universe, Iraq war, etc.... I could go on and on and on.

Validity, morality, and popular opinion may be the same, but one doesn't have a thing to do with the other.

BTW, I'm not saying the people that are upset are "wrong". I actually don't believe there is a right or wrong way to take this situation. However, there is a right way to take whatever feelings you have and act on them IMHO. I am saying that some of the reactions are over-the-top. I'm also saying that however anyone feels about this, there are much bigger Orioles' issues to be worried about.

Unlike slavery, there is no tangible impact on anyone from this action. However, since this is partly an entertainment industry, appealing to your target audience is important.

If:

1) fans don't like what happened (be it 50% of fans or 10%)

2) the franchise was not compelled to do it and

3) there is no gain or upside for making the move

....then it was the WRONG thing to do. It's that simple. If Millar and MacPhail later come out and say that the fan reaction doesn't change the way they feel about this, then they are both fools. I already cast a wary eye at them for not thinking this would be an issue before they decided to do it.

[66-70-83-??]

I also love the not-so-subtle connotation that since the majority of people are upset about it (which is debatable anyway), it must be worthwhile. The fact that the majority of the public feels one way about an issue has almost nothing to do with whether the opinion is valid/morally correct or not. Slavery, abortion, earth is flat, sun goes around the earth, earth center of the universe, Iraq war, etc.... I could go on and on and on.

Validity, morality, and popular opinion may be the same, but one doesn't have a thing to do with the other.

BTW, I'm not saying the people that are upset are "wrong". I actually don't believe there is a right or wrong way to take this situation. However, there is a right way to take whatever feelings you have and act on them IMHO. I am saying that some of the reactions are over-the-top. I'm also saying that however anyone feels about this, there are much bigger Orioles' issues to be worried about.

I disagree.

The Orioles are a business first and foremost.

You have heard the old cliche'- the customer is ALWAYS right.

Fans are the paying customers. First order of any business is to attract customers and keep them happy.

Doing anything that angers or offends a segment of your fanbase is bad business.