Cheers, Boos About Evenly Split
Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies have cooked up a little surprise for the fans tonight at Citizens Bank Park. It is a video message from Rollins to the fans in the wake of his comments last week calling them "front-runners," and the resulting firestorm.
Cheers, Boos About Evenly Split
Rich Hofmann
UPDATE
As it turned out, the video that Jimmy Rollins taped was not played on the stadium video board, but on television. Which meant that the fans were treated to Rollins' appearance without a warmup.
When the lineups were announced before the game, there was a mix of boos and cheers.
When Rollins took the field before the game, there was pretty much silence.
When Rollins successfully fielded a ground ball in the top of the first, there were some boos.
When Rollins came to the plate in the first inning, the noise was pretty loud and, again, pretty evenly split between boos and cheers. When Rollins lined out to right field, there were boos again.
In all, a pretty big shrug.
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Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies have cooked up a little surprise for the fans tonight at Citizens Bank Park. It is a video message from Rollins to the fans in the wake of his comments last week calling them "front-runners," and the resulting firestorm.
Rollins taped it in the dugout before batting practice.
"They came up and asked me if I would do it," Rollins said. "At first, I was like, 'That's pretty cheesy.' But the producer wanted to do it so I was like, 'All right, sure, whatever. I'll go along with it.' "
Asked if it was an apology, Rollins said it was not. He said, "It was, 'What do you think is going to be the reaction to your first at-bat?' "
His response, paraphrased, was apparently something on the order of: everybody has a right to their opinion, everybody has a right to cheer or boo, but in the end, everybody just wants the team to win.
Or something.
Speaking later to reporters, Rollins was unrepentant. Asked if he regretted the incident, he said, "No, not at all."
And he again talked about how booing has, in the past, affected some of his teammates to the point where "they're halfway defeated before they get up there" to the plate.
He also added that potential free agents have come up to him in the past and asked about the Philadelphia fans and said things, "Most of 'em, you can't repeat." Rollins said that players have said they don't want to put their families into this kind of situation, "That's just the truth."
That should get some play.
More later.
10000 Losses what is Rollins talking about Frontrunner Fans..— Philly-d-kidder- Anyone who booed Rollins for more than his first appearance tonight - a "gimme" boo, if you will - should quit calling him- or herself a Phils fan. The team needs to win. If it turns out Rollins really is on some campaign to leave town, I'll join you in booing him through eternity, but I think he's trying to stir the pot, get his teammates fired up about something, even something as stupid as this. Rollins' final at-bat, when he saw about 10 pitches before Werth got up and hit his home run, was one of the little keys to the game. Grow up, Philly! Get a thicker skin.— frankenslade
- wallstreetexaminer: on jd drew, "Drew and his agent Scott Boras elected not to sign with the Phillies, sticking to their guarantee that they would not sign for less than $10 million. The Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money, and despite Boras' warnings, drafted Drew nonetheless." in regards to the indirected anger, i totally agree with you, well said— main liner
- For all who want to be a hard@$$ and boo, please complete the following sentence: "Booing helps because..." (and keep it in relation to the play on the field, not you feeling better. If it's all about winning, then keep your comments focused on the field.)— vinni
- y'all have too much time on your hands!— jonpoetical
- jimmy is a freaking puss. theres no question about it. he was hailed as a god less than a year ago. did he forget that? all he has to do is play the game and people will not boo him. as for ryan howard...psh, this guy doesn't even belong in baseball. he's a joke and so overrated its ridiculous. OH BUT HES LEADING THE NL IN RBIS AND HOMERS! big whoopdee doo! he's also leading in SO's and his batting average is DISMAL. ryan howard has to be the most overrated player in sports right now.— jayfril
- Once and for all, J-Hole needs to SHUT. UP. AND. PLAY.— Jeg7777
- Jimmy loves this because once again we are talking about Jimmy instead of the Phils... Thats why he says and does these stupid things he wants to be the T.O. of the Phils.— Theo1980
- At every level from little league, to high school, to the minor leagues most of these guys have been the best or one of the best on their teams...that's how they got to where there at. That also means they have faced a relatively small amount of criticism in their life. And if it turns out that they are the kind of player who is "half defeated" because they are getting it from the fans, then they are certainly not a professional athlete. If you can't handle the heat, you best get out of the kitchen. Booo you J-Roll for letting things get to this point. You lost a fan in me.— Momus
- Fans have the right to boo, but I love that Philly fans not only think it's their right, but their obligation. And on top of that, they won't even entertain the idea that players might find it discouraging to be booed before they've even done something bad. Can anyone really argue with what Rollins actually said about free agents or players being discouraged? What should he apologize for? His opinion?— Scholes
- Wallstreet you have it partially right. Unfortunately you can not boo lousy ownership and general management. AND we also notice when people are not hustling. For the most part that's why we boo. Sure it happens a little more here and there and have you been to Shea when the Mets are stinkin up the place? Booing that puts ours to shame. Philly gets the short strift because that's the mythology. Rollins is no dummy he's playing to the ESPN crowd who know nothing about Philly and it commitment to teams. Rollins plays the "woe is me" game because he's having trouble at the plate. He cries to an audience that will believe that Philly doesn't appreciate him or any of his teammates. AND that is a load of BULL. With a grand total of 4 major championships in the past 40 years how would you describe the commitment of a Philly fan? Like you said we sniff the BS’ers and Rollins acting like a petulant teenager blaming the “mean old fans” for his difficulties is plain wrong. Ashburn would concur if he were here. If and when he wants to own up and man up the fans will be there like we have as long as I can remember. Until then Rollins will be lost in his own self made misery.— searcher
- Pro baseball players are a bunch of P#SSIES overall, and I'm so GD sick of their "feelings". I wish for a few games a year, they could put on cletes or skates and go out and take the punishment that pro football and hockey players take. J-Roll is a d#ck for saying what he did , especially after a lackluster season.— solexy
- Way to attract free agents to philly. And you wonder why Jenkins was our big splash in free angency. Great job to the media for keeping it around. Write something else this next week. It must be easy to be a sports writer in this town.— lennyk
Comment removed.- JRoll appears to love the camera and the national attention more than he does Philly, Imagine if he channeled his enthusiasm for himself into enthusiasm for correcting his offensive flaws. An offseason trade is in order. Think Kansas City or Tampa where he could preen in front of 9,000 at every home game— mick314
