Though most of the evening highlight programs focused on the Braves’ bullpen meltdown yesterday, largely gifting the Phillies a 12-11 comeback victory, CBP patrons won themselves a bit of recognition for their actions earlier in the day, booing former Phillie/current O’s P Adam Eaton during the presentation of World Series championship rings. In the mind of Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Kaduk, such actions are “below the belt”.
Yeah, yeah, I’m sure many of the fans were probably booing in a tongue-in-cheek, “you-want-Philly-we’ll-show-you-Philly” type manner. And I’m not saying they should have greeted him with a large ovation, not after he went 14-18 with a 6.10 ERA and 1.63 WHIP over two seasons with the Phillies and not after he was left off last year’s playoff roster and released before this year.
But ring ceremonies tend to be a happy time and you clap for everyone ” no matter how small the contribution ” from Ryan Howard to the traveling secretary to So Taguchi.
Yeah, Adam Eaton wasn’t very good, he won’t be good with his new team (the Orioles) and the Phillies still owe him $9 million. But that isn’t the point. The Phillies WON the World Series, this guy ultimately didn’t do anything to mess it up, and on World Series ring day, everyone earns absolution ” and at least a polite golf clap during ring retrieval.
It was pretty cathartic to boo Eaton one last time. His presence made me wonder if R.J. Swindle was eligible for a ring, too.
In all seriousness, I thought it was an amazing presentation. Eaton took it in stride. Best of all was Pat’s reaction. It’s amazing that he’s been able to keep it together when you consider the emotional rollercoaster he’s been riding since last Friday. (I went to the On Deck game Friday night for the big goodbye to Pat, too. I’m frankly amazed at how classy the fans and the club have been.)
Booooooooooooooo.
C’mon, after all of Kaduk’s own qualifiers he shouldn’t have bothered. Truth is parade day is when politeness reigned. I remember laughing at the fact that we were cheering for Taguchi (whose option was declined even as the parade was going on) then. Also, I reject the implication that the travelling secretary is an afterthought
They can give Swindle a ring if they want to. But obviously Eaton appeared in many more innings. And, in fact, was the winning pitcher of record four times. So you could say that Adam Eaton is the reason the Phillies finished higher than the Mets.
And with Eatons 8 losses, you could say if if the Phillies didnt cut him loose he would have cost them the playoff berth… I was at the game yesterday and as much as I could be bothered to work up a boo for Eaton, he still should have just stayed in the clubhouse (or better yet, Baltimore). It wasnt just for the lack of bang for buck the Phils got from Eaton, it was also his ” I could give a shit” countenance in his press comments during his tenure. Hey, if So Taguchi was there he would have gotten at least a polite hand. As far as the game, that was a bizarre 7th inning. The Braves BP pitchers were so all over the place that not even Bobby Cox could come out and jaw at the umps for squeezing. 4 waked-in batters in one inning?… Big ups to Raul Ibanez for being in the thick of it at the plate all game. That first series sure produced some ugly WHIP totals for Phils starters but Utley looks fine and in what has to be a shocker, the slimmed down Ryan Howard was flashing serious leather all series.
Joking, obviously (or maybe it wasn’t obvious). Though, sadly, even though he won a lot more games, Kendrick was no less damaging. But then, so was Myers.
And actually, Eaton’s bad attitude only surfaced in ST. He was perfectly gracious last fall, took a minor league assignment he could have refused – which in retrospect would have been the best thing for both sides – didn’t complain, didn’t ever claim he’d pitched well. The only dodgy thing I recall is he was sort of sarcastic about his poor ERA and W-L record in his minor league stints, but he had a point – that he was there to work on his stuff in games that for all intents and purposes didn’t count. I don’t particularly rate his gripe that the team failed to invite him to the parade, because by then he’d left of his own accord (and if they had called, would he have caught a red-eye?), but the team invited him to this and if it meant something for him to be there (he was drafted by the organization let’s not forget), let him have his fun. But also let the fans have theirs.
I mean, if “‘Duk” really wanted to write about this topic wouldn’t the second inning boos on Opening Day have been more damning?
I’m happy to report So Taguchi wasn’t booed at all tonight — playing for Iowa in Round Rock, TX.
btw, JT, article in Reading paper talks about how Phils brass went down to present Brad Harman with his ring. Everyone who was on the roster for a minute got one.