Earlier this week, Mets fans took some criticism from this corner for their harsh treatment of Johan Santana in what was just the 5th game of the season and the pitcher’s 2nd start of the year, respectively.  Yankee fans, of course, always have to outdo their Queens counterparts, and today was no exception, as starter Javier Vazquez heard it loud and clear from the entitled creeps boo birds in his 2nd appearance since returning to the Bronx. I was on hand for the occasion, and while I passed up the opportunity to meet a true legend (see above), it struck me there’s an expectation of near perfection bordering on the psychotic ; the hostility towards Vazquez comes just 24 hours after (some) of these cretins saw their team awarded World Series rings. Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra is quick to stress he’s not calling all Yankee fans “ignorant” (“just those who were at the game today”)   (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)

The boos weren’t merely a function of Vazquez leaving in the sixth inning after giving up a couple of hits and a wild pitch: they started in the first inning. A fan at the game tweets that fans were chanting “we want Melky” in the third inning.

The man has started two games this year. These boos are almost certainly a function of people thinking back to 2004, which is amazingly weak given that, you know, the team just won the World Series five months ago. For a fan base that fancies itself so much more knowledgeable than anyone else’s, this was pretty bad.