|
|
|
…i had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Darryl Strawberry earlier this week while at the SNY studios…i wanted to talk to darryl, because who, more than he, knows about booing and the relationship between fans and players… To watch Part 1 and 2 of my talk with Strawberry, use the video players below, or scroll down to read a written transcript of the discussion:
Matthew Cerrone: I am interested in getting your response to this topic about Mets fans and booing, and how ‘out of control’ it is. I’m wondering from your days, how does it compare?
Darryl Strawberry: Well, I don’t really think it is that out of control. I think it compares with having a good team, and wanting the team to do well and be successful. I think that’s pretty much what happened in the days when we developed and became a good team, if we didn’t play well then of course the fans would be and let us know. So, it’s part of it, because you know that when you play in New York the expectations are high – and you look at this team the last couple of years, they’ve been very close and when you get close you start spoiling your fans and they want to see you get over to the other side. (The fans) haven’t seen that in a while, so, sometimes they get restless, their emotions come out. I never took it personally. I took it as them wanting us to win and we need to do a better job.
Matthew Cerrone: Did it take you a while to realize that? Or, did you know that then. I mean, you were a young guy then, did you know it then or was it after the fact?
Darryl Strawberry: Well, I think we realized it when we became the kind of ball club we did. You know, we were starting to be successful and we needed to get to the next level and excel. And when you start understanding that the fans are coming out to support you every night and they appreciate the good, but there is bad that comes along with it and they’re gonna let you know when it’s bad and ugly. I really did appreciate the fans, because they make you realize you’re better and you can do a better job and in other cities it’s not like that. You have to respect that because it’s New York.
Matthew Cerrone: What kind of advice would you give to a player on the current team, because maybe the booing gets in their head?
Darryl Strawberry: Well, I think the most important thing is not to take it personal. I think if you get too personal with it, you kind of lose a sense of what your real purpose is. You’re real purpose is to play baseball, and what you do and what you love. It becomes a distraction if you’re overly concerned with it…You have to remember that they’re there to support you and they’re there to let you know, too, at the same time, if you’re not going well.
Matthew Cerrone: It seems to me that one of the big difference is – and I’m new to this, I guess – but I don’t ever remember guys getting so heavily booed before they come in to a game, and…
Darryl Strawberry: (Laughing) No? That may seem much to you, but, back in our days when certain guys before they came in and were announced, oh, believe me, there was a big boo.
Matthew Cerrone: I think one of the other concerns among Mets fans is that it’s probably a minority of fans who are booing, but that’s who gets heard, and there’s a fear that this could kill any home field advantage, or discourage free-agents from signing here. Is that real?
Darryl Strawberry: Well, it’s always been like that. It’s not gonna change just because a player decides he doesn’t want to play here…It doesn’t really ever lose that home-field advantage with the fans, because they can be great too…If you’re out there performing and doing great things, believe me, these fans are 100 percent behind you. At the same time, if you’re sucking up the place, they’re gonna let you know.
Matthew Cerrone: I think I remember hearing you talk once about how when you went out to Los Angeles you missed the energy from New York’s fans.
Darryl Strawberry: Oh, no question about it. I missed it…I was used to the fans yelling when you play like crap. It was kind of motivating. I went to LA and it was different. There it is more laid back and fans didn’t yell as much…They live and die with you (in New York), and that’s a great sign when you have fans like that.
Matthew Cerrone: Have you ever talked with the current players about that? I know you were down in spring training. Do you talk about this with them?
Darryl Strawberry: No…I think it’s a learning process for them to understand that New York is great. You know, there’s nothing greater than winning here. If you ever get in that winning circle, and they get a taste of it, they’ll truly understand what type of fans they have, because they really come out when you win.
…i’ll be honest, there was a point during his first answer when it hit me, ‘I can’t believe I am sitting here eye-to-eye talking with Darryl Strawberry,’ and so i am not sure i heard a single word he said…instead, i was inundated with flashbacks of chasing him down for autographs after a game when i was a kid, or pinning his poster on my wall, etc…once the first question was complete, though, i got it together and was able to focus on the interview…thankfully…
 |
 |
 |
RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
I don’t get it, all you say is why is talk radio and everyone else keep bringing up booing. You criticize everyone else about it, yet you talk about it everyday. You sit down with Strawberry, who all of us rarely see interviewed, and your whole conversation is about booing, come on Matt, which way is it?
Wow. Forgive me for trying to give a little context to the discussion, which people are having, and for trying to provide a bit of insight from a person who can provide it.
I thought this would be helpful, for those who boo, who don’t, and who may be interested, of which clearly you are not.
Also, of the 65 posts I made this week, 61 were not about booing.
What some readers fail to realize is that interviews like this will open the door to future opportunities.
Nice job Matt … keep up the good work!
Future opportunities to interview people about booing? Don’t add fuel to the fire if you are calling out other media about it. Only Matt provides context about booing, everyone else is just blowing it out of proportion. Right Matt?
I, for one, thought it was a great topic to discuss with Darryl because he can provide a unique insight into what it is like to be boo’ed by your own fans. The topic becomes overblown when you discuss nothing else but the booing, but as Matt pointed out, its been a topic of 4 out of 64 posts.
It seems like you, DSAH, are the one blowing things out of proportion.
Just because he believes it is being blown out of proportion, doesn’t mean he should ignore it. For some reason, it has been a hot topic lately. All Matt is doing here, at least in my opinion, is giving us some insight from a player’s perspective, as to whether or not it is really being blown out of proportion.
I’m sure Matt still subcribes to the idea that too much of a big deal is being made about it, but if it is what is being discussed in 90% of people’s posts, how do you expect him to ignore it. He’s being objective about it..
More importantly, why am I defending this lucky SOB. He got to sit down and chat with my freggin boyhood idol!!
I hope this is the end of the whining about the booing…that interview was painful, especially when Strawberry laughed at you for your lack of perspective.
“Also, of the 65 posts I made this week, 61 were not about booing.”
Sabermetrics strikes again!!
Classic…
C’mon guys – that was a great interview. One of Matt’s best. Who better to comment on how the booing affects actual Mets players? And, if anything, Darryl was in the “it’’s not new / it’s not a big deal” camp.
Cerrone has done the least sensationalizing of boogate compared to mainstream media sourecs and even compared to other Mets related blogs.
This and your Hernandez interview are two of the best fan interviews I’ve ever seen. Great great job.
what is darryls role with the team? is he like a part time adviser/coach/mentor? he may have some intelligent insight to give to players who may be feeling the heat from the fans.
needless to say, i’m happy the mets are taking a nice little road trip, maybe it will clear their heads.
I love Darryl, so glad to see him back in the fold with the Mets, where he belongs. His answers here were really good, and pretty much right on the money: I really wish he would share his insight with the players. I feel like he would have so much to impart on them (much of it cautionary). Now we just need to get Doc cleaned up and back in the fold and all will be right in the Mets universe. Well, that and putting a winning team on the field…
I hope this sinks into some of you Pollyanna, don’t dare boo or you hurt our team’s fragile ego, crowd. Straw just B-slapped the whole lot of you by basically saying if you don’t want to get booed, don’t stink the joint up!
AMEN!
Nonsense. As much as I admire and like Straw, not all players are like him. The type of personality that enabled him to let the boos roll off his back and to motivate him is also the type of personality that led him into a boatload of legal and personal problems and was a barrier to him realizing his full potential.
There are a few players who are less bothered by the boos. But there are tons of players who are bothered by the boos and perform worse when they are showered by them.
I also disagree with Darryl that the boos aren’t worse today than they were in the past. My memory could be faulty, but it seems the degree of booing is worse than ever.
Biggest difference between the teams Darryl played on and this one?
Darryl’s teams were tough — and used fan displeasure as motivation. They knew they stunk, and could turn it around because the fans wanted to root for them.
This team is softer than a bag of marshmallows — and seems to be looking for excuses as to why many of them absolutely stink at Shea (*cough* Delgado) check his splits since becoming a Met.
Schoeneweis stunk at Shea last year, and heard it.
Beltran hasn’t always been a player at Shea in front of a home crowd, either — he’s heard it….
I’m not a boo-bird, at every turn — but the underlying point of it all has ALWAYS been, produce before the home crowd, and this is an absolute non-issue.
Otherwise, cry me a river……better yet, go cry somewhere else, cuz you’re not meant to play in this city.
Nobody wants to boo their hometown heroes. Play, produce, win, and be loved in this city.
Thanks for some much needed perspective, Darryl….many fans just don’t get it.
While Darryl’s perspective is a good one to have, fans have to be smart enough to realize that the players on this team are not going to respond to boos in the way that Darryl and his teammates did. Whether you think today’s players are soft or not is irrelevant. The key question here is whether the booing is hurting this team’s play on the field. If it is, that’s a problem. Both for the players … who should toughen up … and the fans … who want to see the Mets play well but may be hurting the Mets chances by their booing.
While I don’t boo the home team, I understand that people will sometimes boo. I just question the usefulness of booing players before they set foot on the field. Scott Schoeneweis, for example, has actually pitched well this season but is booed everytime he is introduced. Finally, most of the players don’t need the fans to tell them that they are not playing well.
Darryl was very clear, that despite Matt’s many assertions to the contrary, that this is NOT a new phenomenon, nor is it worse than it has been in the past.
The fans of NY are not going to change, so unless these guys want to spend the rest of their contract years in the fetal position in the dugout or bullpen, they better start responding EXACTLY as Darryl and the boys did and succeed.
As I said above, I disagree with Darryl. The booing is worse than ever. In the past, they wouldn’t have booed someone like Santana making his first appearance at Shea.
Darryl is just glossing over the uglier elements of today’s fan base.
Ugh. everybody I knew who was at that game said they were first booing Willie when he came out of teh dugout for leaving Johan in so long when he obviously had lost it. Then, some were booing the Scho coming in. The latter may be a bit much….but is a far cry from “booing Johan”.
Nice work, Matt. Next time you talk to him, thank him for autographing my baseball in 1985.
And while you’re at it, thank him for taking the time to stop at the front desk of the Contemporary Resort Hotel in Disney to sign my Mickey Mouse autograph book as a kid (think it was the winter of ‘87).
He was obviously in a hurry, but did the right thing — and honored the Little Kid in a 1986 World Series Champs t-shirt’s wishes down in Florida.
After he did, a mob suddenly woke up and realized who he was….and he absolutely “high-tailed” it to his limo outside — as if he was swiping a base.
D-Straw gets it….it’s just a shame he couldn’t keep himself together off the field. Good to see him back with the organization, though.
If Darryl had the maturity level he seems to have now ,20 years ago, imagine what could have been. It’s great to see he finally has it “together” now. I enjoy his insights on the post game shows and I hope he sticks around with the Mets.
Quotes didn’t show, just to emphasize my point above:
-And when you start understanding that the fans are coming out to support you every night and they appreciate the good, but there is bad that comes along with it and they’re gonna let you know when it’s bad and ugly.
-I was used to the fans yelling when you play like crap.
-You have to remember that they’re there to support you and they’re there to let you know, too, at the same time, if you’re not going well.
And to the people who keep saying it’s the “new generation” of Mets fans who are rude and spoiled, two words : Doug Sisk.
Perfectly put, Metropoliben.
Amen.
I agree with Nutz because signing with a New York team means higher scrutiny but also a higher paycheck. I don’t boo just to boo and I don’t encourage my kid to boo but if I see players dogging it, then I do boo. I can forgive a mental error but not when players are not thinking of the game or their team. I’ve seen Reyes and Castillo do too much of this. They need someone to put their foot down and tell these players to suck it up. As I’ve said and other bloggers have said, Willie cannot seem to do this.
Did you ask him for his autograph? I would have.
there is a difference between booing in the stands and the nasty venom that’s spewed in the comments section across blogs about the mets.
that’s significantly different than the players of strawberry’s era experienced.
Simple solution to that: don’t read the papers or check message boards.
Focus on improving yourself and making the adjustments at the plate, on the mound, and in the field.
If Darryl had been a fan in the stands on opening day this year at Shea, he would not have booed Santana.
Darryl is just glossing over the real ugliness of a portion of today’s Mets fan base. Mets fans have always showed Darryl a lot of love even through all his personal problems, so he’s just refraining from criticizing them now to be nice.
The fans in the stands showed Johan Santana an outpouring of love and welcome on Opening Day — and Oliver Perez was on the hill.
Johan easily got the loudest pop and ovation of the day…..it was a select few morons who booed him upon removal of his first home start, later on in the week vs. the Brewers.
And I’m still convinced that they were booing Schoeneweis’ entrance INTO the game — and not really as much Santana’s DEPARTURE FROM the game.
Met fans are much more loyal and dedicated than they’re portrayed to be — albeit by a BROAD AND WIDE paintbrush, not everyone who has a criticism about the team is a fairweather, or even “entitled” fan.
People need to get real…..yes, booing bothers players to a degree — but their job is to play baseball….whether they’re at home, or on the road.
Many Met players have a bugaboo about performing at home. Maybe they can prescribe some SHEA-AGRA for them.
Hallelujah!!!!
Some reality from an actual former Met! Will this finally keep the newbie fans / pollyannas from whining about the booing as if they weren’t around (these types of fans, I sususpect probably weren’t) during the days of “Sisk Sucks!” chants?
Darryl said it best – the fanbase here has energy and passion and is demanding. The teams in the 80s understood it. If this group doesn’t….well, whose fault is that?
bloggers belong in front of keyboards…tv people belong in front of cameras. it’s not a slight, we all have different niches
I’m just saying you can’t get on Mike and the Maddog and news reporters about overplaying the booing and talking about it everyday. Then you keep on turning out booing articles and interviews and fallback on the stance that you are just providing context and information, while others are blowing it out of proportion.